


Unlucky to be lucky

by Suna_Utsu



Category: Revenge - Fandom, Vampires - Fandom, own - Fandom
Genre: Animals, Blood, Blood and Gore, Bromance, Cats, Chill, Death, Demons, Experiments, Flowers, Funny, Gore, Happy, Horses, Human, London, Love, M/M, Monster - Freeform, Murder, OC, Og - Freeform, Other - Freeform, Piano, Plotting, Repent, Revenge, Story, Titanic - Freeform, Tulips, Vampires, Zoo, characters, commedy, dimension, kill, original - Freeform, possibly, script, world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 02:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20350675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suna_Utsu/pseuds/Suna_Utsu
Summary: Two people are bound by fate after an event that occurred 20 years ago wether they like it or not. After Cashew finds the son of the murderers of his parents, he spends every day trying to kill him in different ways. Yet, due to some unusual luck, that guy just never dies! No matter what death Cashew has planned, the other somehow always manages to make it through...HI! Author here... I want to turn this into an animation or comic and this book is.. well.. the script (sorta). Soooo if there are any tips or improvements please say anything and everything you think of!!





	1. Tulips

It has been 20 years since the death of my parents. 20 years of sadness, regret, anger and uncontrollable remorse towards the man that had killed them. It had taken 20 years to finally give up on ever finding the murderer... to move on. So why, after finally accepting this pain deep inside my heart, and why, after gaining hope of seeing the light of day once more, must I be swept back to the memories of that tragic day once again? All the feelings came back as if that day had been but yesterday, for the man who had once murdered my parents- is standing right in front of me!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Cashew was stood on a busy street behind the row of flowers he had to sell for that day. He had lost all control and feeling of his body- nearly causing him to hyperventilate as his shaking limbs poorly kept him standing. His dark, brown eyes were diluted, unfocused, and down his forehead dripped a cold sweat. He was so shocked that he could not even think straight. If anyone were to look at the way he held himself right now, they could mistaken him for a mad man. No, a madman was an understatement.

What had he seen that had caused him to go berserk like this? The answer is very simple. He was only a child when the event happened. It was a cold, stormy night when his mother had hidden him in the closet, told him to stay quiet and had given him an iron dagger as a farewell gift. They both knew she was about to die as they heard his fathers last, bloody cries sound from the room next door.

“Retched fiend!” She hissed under her breath. Through a crack between the closet doors he saw two shadowy figures calmly enter the room where he and his mother trembled, “you will be cursed for the rest of your miserable existence!” She spat at them. That was the last thing she had ever said before the silhouette of a man effortlessly cracked her neck between his fingers. At that same moment the moonlight had pushed its way through the clouds and had shone down through a window and illuminated a strip of the room. Cashew saw the man’s expressionless, lean face, hollow red eyes and neat, blonde hair loom over the corpse of his mother. The moonlight had disappeared nearly as fast as it had appeared, letting way to the stormy clouds once again... but that one moment felt like a sign. It was as if the heavens were telling Cashew to one day find this man and to cause him hell!

“We’re done here”, the hoarse voice from the unknown man broke Cashew from his trance,“I don’t sense anyone else. You can have this one” and with those words he carelessly dropped the corpse in his hand onto the floor. Although this had brought a new surge of anger to Cashew, he dare not move and continued to watch with wide eyes and clenched teeth. The man stopped by the doorway for a few long seconds as if pondering on something and finally took something out of the glass cabinet next to him and walked back into the room where Cashews father lay. The other shadowy figure swiftly approached his mother, with which Cashew could now make out that is was a woman. Cashew watched as she suddenly crouched next to his mother and leaned her face towards the corpses body. What was she doing? Unluckily, this unordinary and sudden action had caused Cashew to draw in an unwanted sharp and loud breath, immediately drawing the attention of the second murderer.

She looked back quickly and sat staring at the cupboard door.A red glint could be seen in her eyes, which sent shivers down Cashews back and, the longer he stared into those eyes, the more he felt like some demonic power had overcome him and was pulling him towards the murderer. This spell cast from her eyes was extremely difficult to resist, but thankfully the man from next door broke it before it had time to fully posses Cashew.

“I’m done here,” he said darkly “someone is coming up the stairs, you should finish up too”. No more noise came from the room next door after the sound of an opening window. However, with the first murderer gone, the attention of the second one was back on Cashew.

“That’s strange, I don’t sense any one else in this house, but why does it feel like...” without another moments thought, and inhuman speed, the woman appeared right outside the wardrobe door and swung it open. She gave off a such a strong aura, that being this close to her sent Cashews blood turn to ice. The seconds in which they hadstared at each other in a sickening silence stretched out into eternity. Then, slowly, the woman’s lips curled up into a psychotic smile. She started chucking. “I can’t believe it... you don’t have a smell” she burst out into mad laughter. How dare she?

How dare she.

How dare she stand before the child whom she had just murderer the parents of and laugh? Everything went blank in Cashews mind and the next moment he remembered was the laughter turning to a deafening screech as he found his own hands clasped around the iron dagger which was now firmly stuck in the stomach of the woman.

“Excuse me?” The woman mumbled, looking down with shock at her stomach, “what... is this” her voice was dying out quickly and, as she staggered back scarlet liquid gushed out from her mouth. Sudden knocking was heard from the front door, “Excuse me! Is anyone inside?” the man from the staircase shouted. Everything was happening so suddenly, everything was so overwhelming as Cashews mind was finally catching up to the events that had occurred moments before.

“Excuse me?”

He was getting dizzy- he could feel himself losing consciousness.

“Excuse me!” A shout brought Cashew back to reality where he was standing behind the row of flowers on the busy street. In front of him, the man who looked like his parents murderer was standing and staring at him.Despite the close physical resemblance and the same overpowering and intimidating aura around the man, at a closer look, Cashew realised that he had some distinct differences to the killer from 20 years ago. His eyes were black, not red, and his hair, although with the same styling, was a dirtier shade of blonde and messier from lack of care. Along with the fact that the man looked to be in his mid- twenties, all clues pointed to him being the child of the people who had murdered Cashews parents.

“For the last time, what is the name of this flower?” He pointed, with a hint of irritation, at a bouquet of white flowers.

“Tulips” Cashew managed to force out a quiet reply.

“So you can talk! This is perfect.” The man gladly exclaimed, “in that case, my name is Monsuta, and I invite you to work for me in my mansion.”


	2. Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cashew moves into Monsuta’s home and plans his first revenge murder.

What had he just said? It was clear to Cashew that this man was of the same breed as that woman who had laughed in front of him 20 years ago. They were all just mocking him,laughing without a care in the world and coming back and appearing in front of Cashew as if nothing had ever happened!And now this, an offer from the son of a murderer, to come and work for him in his mansion... Cashew had only one thought right now- he had to kill him. As soon as he finds the gardening scissors he had lying around he was going to stab this offspring of the devil. He didn’t care that there were people around him, if they took something precious from him, he will take something precious from them!

“Please,” Monsuta spoke once again, there was a strange urgency to his voice, and his black eyes showed a mixture of pleading... or curiosity? “You can have as much money or use any of the possessions in my mansion, but you are special and I cannot leave until you accept my offer”.

Cashew could only look at this man in shock and disgust. He continued to further examine Monsutas appearance whilst he thought of what to do next. Monsuta was quite handsome and uniquely dressed in expensive yet uncared for clothes. He wore an un-ironed, black shirt with some dusty black trousers. He had a golden tie and gloves, and finally wore black, muddy shoes. Cashew was momentarily thinking how his good looks were waisted on this guys lack of care and bad family history when, before he could act any further, an idea seeded itself into his head. Before long his idea grew and bloomed and soon enough he answered with certainty in his voice the words “I accept your offer... Name’s Cashew.” Instantly Monsuta’s face lit up and they both shook hands with grins on their faces. Yet they were happy not for the same reasons, because Cashew knew that this was an opportunity for him- he would kill Monsuta in the most brutal and painful way possible.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Stay here.”

Monsuta was left gazing by the tulips while Cashew went to pack his belongings. Inside the flower shop he flipped the sign on the door to ‘Closed’ and grabbed a sachet, filling it with equipment he thought he would need for the next night or two. (It won’t take long to take care of Monsuta) he thought to himself, then went behind the counter and, after making sure no one was watching him, opened a secret trap door which led to a long staircase. Once down, he was welcomed by an enormous underground lab which, at present and to his surprise, was engulfed in smoke and flickering lights.

“What in the world have you done this time, Shirley?” Cashew wheezed as he frantically waved his hand to get rid of the smoke.

“Oh I’m sorry you had to come in at this exact moment,” a woman in a half burned, white lab coat and large, slanted glasses emerged from the smoke. She was tall and slender, and had her long hazel hair was tied in a messy pony tail. This woman had been his mother figure from the moment she took him in after his parents murder, and Cashew loved her dearly. Nevertheless, she was a crazy underground scientist that knew no limit when it came to experimentation.

“I have found the son of my parents murderer,” he said bluntly, “but do not worry, I will avenge them quickly and return soon.”

As Cashew started walking away, he heard a giggle from behind. Turning, he saw Shirley leaning on a wall, hands crossed and looking softly at him. “I am not worried about you in the slightest, I believe that you are very capable in protecting yourself and making the right decisions.”

Cashew was about to leave when he quickly thought of one last thing to pack into his sachet, and grabbed two jars from inside a dusty drawer before giving a final wave to Shirley and going back up the stairs. To his dismay he found that Monsuta had gotten bored of looking at the tulips and was now sitting inside with a cat on either side of him. He was reading a book and mumbling to himself. At the appearance of Cashew he quickly shut the book and jumped up and out of his seat.

“Do you have all your things?” Monsuta asked giddily, “these are my two cats, this one is-“ Monsuta was cut off by an expressionless Cashew storming past him towards the exit.

“I thought I told you to wait outside,” he grunted. (It seemed that Cashew was too engrossed into his book and his cats to notice the secret trap door), Cashew thought with relief. When both men and cats were out of the flower shop, Cashew quickly packed away the flowers and then they set off towards Monsuta’s carriage.

“Just because a cat is purring doesn’t mean that the cat is happy.”

Confused, Cashew looked over to where Monsuta was walking beside him. The blonde man was reading from his book again as they all made their way to the carriage.

“Cats often make the sound when they’re content, but they also purr when they’re sick, stressed, hurt or giving birth...” his voice trailed away when he realised Cashew was staring at him. “Oh! Your interested too?”

“No” Cashew replied curtly. How shameful! To even suggest that he would enjoy anything of the same as his murderers. “When are we going to reach your carriage?”

Monsuta grinned, “you sound like a child on a long road trip, but worry not, we have reached it!”. In front loomed a dark and half broken, wooden carriage, attached to two black horses. The two cats jumped up to the drivers seat, but before Cashew had time to see who would be driving them, Monsuta swung open the carriage door and gestured for him to sit inside.

It took over an hour of sitting in the creaky carriage until they finally arrived to the mansion. They had passed the outskirts of the town and had entered into the depths of the forest. At one point Cashew had thought that Monsuta had somehow recognised him as one of his fathers unfinished jobs, and they were taking him to be killed somewhere where no one could find them. But Monsuta had fallen asleep nearly as soon as the carriage started moving, and now that Cashew could clearly read ‘Looking After Your Fluffy Pet’ as the title of the book that Monsuta was holding in his hand, his worries slowly ebbed away. He became quite sure that Monsuta hadn’t the slightest clue that he was sitting with a man who’s whole existence right now revolved around the idea of killing him. Monsuta had looked so helpless whilst asleep in the carriage seat opposite to Cashew, yet only at the end of their journey did Cashew finally organise all of his hectic thoughts and had realised that he had missed an opportunity in killing Monsuta as he slept. As soon as the carriage stopped, Monsuta awoke and jumped happily out onto the walk way. (No matter) Cashew thought, (there is plenty more time to kill him), and walked out to follow Monsuta.

“Welcome... to my home,” Monsuta proudly introduced whilst grandly swinging out his hands. Monsuta’s home was around three stories high, had black walls, spiky roof and long, crooked fence. It reminded Cashew of some haunted house from a classical horror movie. Thankfully, no graves or spiderwebs surrounded the estate, which reduced the haunting feeling surrounding the building.

Next, followed a tour of the mansion, in which Monsuta acted like a toddler at a theme park and dragged Cashew to the point where he nearly had to run behind him in order to not stumble and fall. The house was big, but consisted of only a few large rooms which made the tour quite simple to remember. Furniture was all painted in brown, black and red, with the style to an old Victorian age. The first floor occupied the kitchen, dining room and living room. A grand staircase loomed in front of the main entrance door and the most impressive thing to be found downstairs was probably the chandeliers, which were delicately designed with intricate details and equipped with a candle at the end of each branch. The next floor beheld a bathroom with a royal-sized tub, a bed room equipped with a majestic fireplace and two master-beds and the library, which seemed to be Monsuta’s favourite room.

“I’m afraid I only have one bedroom so if we were to ever get guests, they can either sleep here or on the couch down stairs.” Monsuta quickly said with an apologetic look in his eyes, a look which quickly turned into playfulness- “but, if you chose to sleep on the couch I can guarantee that the cats won’t give you any peace... thus the reason for two beds up here.”

“It’s alright I’ll sleep up here”

(Perfect) thought Cashew (it seems I’ll be sleeping in the same room as Monsuta, so my job should become easier...). No sooner had he thought that, Monsuta was already enthusiastically dragging him up the last pair of stairs. As their footsteps slowed to a stop, he could see that it was a single, small room with the only thing inside being a grand piano.

“Do you play?” Cashew asked cautiously, for he felt that the mood had suddenly changed.

“No.”

They stood there in silence for a few moments, staring at the piano. Cashew waited until Monsuta decided to make a move.

“But if you want, you can play it anytime you want... oh and do not go through that door,” he said while gesturing to a door in a poorly lit corner that Cashew had not even noticed, “I’ll take you through it soon though, so do not be too impatient.” His usual playful gleam came back into his eyes. Monsuta was already making his way downstairs, this time without dragging Cashew around, when he shouted “we can have our first dinner together after you finish looking around. Do make sure to take your time” and then he left from sight. It didn’t take long for Cashew to finish looking around as there were not a lot of decorations, but one thing he did find was that masses of books were scattered around everywhere, categories ranging from cactuses, to America and anything in between. (So much for Monsuta’s claim of “you can use any of the possessions in my house”... there’s barely anything in here!”)

As Cashew made his way downstairs towards the ground floor, he slowly came to the realisation that a burning smell was becoming stronger. Quickening his pace, he was met with a baffling scene of Monsuta running around the kitchen in an apron and trying to manage five different dishes at the same time. It became apparent that one of the first things that Cashew learnt about this man was that he was not a great cook. However, despite learning this fact and continuously trying to help him, Monsuta was very persistent and did not allow his guest to do anything. Finally though, when a boiling pan over spilt for the fifth time, Monsuta gave in and allowed Cashew to at least serve the drinks.

(What a perfect opportunity, it seems as though I won’t have to stay here for long after all.) “Sure, no problem” Cashew replied light heartedly, but Monsuta did not see the mad smile that had overcome his guests face when he had said those words. Cashew took out the glasses and a bottle of champagne from a storage box in the wall. In the same moment when the bottle was popped open, Cashew took out a small jar from the side of his sachet and managed to poor a drop of black liquid into Monsuta’s glass whilst also pouring the champagne with the other hand. This quick and fluid set of actions went unnoticed as everything was blocked by the sound of loud fizzling of bubbles. In no time at all, the mysterious jar was back into the side of Cashew’s sachet and the drinks were served onto the table.

Shortly after, the food was served too, but unlike the drinks, the food brought far less excitement. Cashew did not even try to hide his displeasure when he ate the stuff, for all of the vegetables, meat, and soup felt so disgusting that he did not even know that such a taste existed. It was burnt, bitter, sower and salty all at the same time, and gave off the most powerful and unpleasant after-taste ever known to man. Nevertheless, Monsuta seemed unfazed by the food and continued eating as if it were served from a five star hotel.

“Is something the matter?” The other finally asked, more from interest than worry for his guests, now, purple face. Cashew didn’t answer that question for a while as he was physically incapable of such action. Instead he shook his head as he at least didn’t want the other to have the satisfaction of humiliating him in such a way. It was only the third bite of his meal and already Cashew was deep in struggle. Both of his sweaty palms were laying flat on the table and his efforts were fully directed on forcing his mind to focus on anything but the food. Cashew noted that Monsuta had not yet touched his drink. (I must be patient) he kept urging to himself. The only reason he was still at this dining table was to eventually see Monsuta take his last sip and then his parents will finally be avenged. Still trying to swallow his mouthful, Cashew averted his attention to the movement in the corner of his vision and saw how Monsuta’s cats entered the kitchen now that it was free of their owners frantic cooking. Monsuta, in the mean time, seemed to have grown bored of his guests lack of life and went on to reading his book from before.

“Scientists don’t quite know why cats purr, but one hypothesis is that the sound frequency of purring- between 25 and 150 Hz, can improve bone density and promote healing, because cats have adapted to purr to conserve energy via long periods of rest and sleep...”

That’s it. Cashew could stand this no more and swallowed this sorry excuse for a food whilst inwardly cursing at Monsuta for nearly killing him instead of it being the other way around. Impatience was growing by the minute as Cashew waited for Monsuta to take even the smallest sip of the champagne.

“I propose a toast,” he decided to end this torture. Holding his glass up high, Cashews eyes gleamed with excitement at finally ending this evening. Then, at the exact same moment that Monsuta had closed his book and was about to lift his cup, a loud sizzle was heard from the kitchen, closely followed by screeching and banging of falling pans. Monsuta’s two cats went flying out and into the dining room, eyes wild and fur covered in a ketchup paste. Before anyone knew it, one had sprung itself onto the table whilst the other catapulted into Cashew’s lap. Both of the cat’s first thoughts were probably to try find comfort and protection with the people from whatever traumatic experience that had just occurred in the kitchen, yet the consequence of this was that both Monsuta’s glass and the jar in Cashew’s sachet were now spilled and smashed on the floor. This was Cashews last strand.

“What the hell was in that kitchen?” The anger that had been bottled up inside Cashew finally erupted. Covered in ketchup paw prints, he stormed his way into the kitchen and, with dismay, saw that one of the pots was still getting heated by the stove on the maximum temperature. “You... didn’t turn off the heat?” He managed to growl out from clenched teeth. His plan had been ruined by an idiot cook and, now that the jar of poison was smashed too, there is no hope of ever using this trick again. 

Monsuta got up and stood beside Cashew, looking giddily into the kitchen. “And that, my friend is why I hired you... for you see, these accidents always seem to happen around here and, if I wanted to keep up with my reading habits, I’d need a few more hands.”

That is how the two men spent the rest of the night washing their clothes and drying the cats, and cleaning up anywhere the ketchup had made its way into. Cashew was extra careful when cleaning up the poison on the floor and to his relief, Monsuta did not seem to notice his mysterious, broken jar.

“You are one lucky guy, Monsuta, but from now on I’ll be cooking our meals.” He grumbled.


	3. Vegetables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two men are getting used to living with each other and decide to spend the evening hunting- but they both have different motives...

Cashew woke up one morning to the dull sound of music. His first thought was that he was still dreaming, since he knew that Monsuta did not own a record player. But as his sleepiness ebbed away, he realised that the sound was coming from the grand piano up stairs. The tune was a refreshing and upbeat jazz piece. Cashew immediately was drawn to the catchy rhythm, but by the time he reached the top of the stairs, the melody had sadly slowed to a stop.

“It seems as though I have woken you up, my apologies.” Monsuta said without looking back.

“I thought you didn’t play?”

“I don’t.” With a deep sigh, Monsuta shut the piano cover and slowly stood up. “In my eyes, being able to play one song does not count as being able to play the piano.”

“Why do you play this one?” Cashew was unusually curious this morning. He had now spent a few days at Monsuta’s mansion and was getting used to the other’s habits. He learned that Monsuta lived alone with his two cats and never had any guests. He spent his days mostly reading whilst Cashew took it upon himself to clean the mansion. It was big and very dusty, and he decided that if he was going to stay here for a while longer, he might as well make the place more enjoyable. Additionally, Cashew found no new information about Monsuta’s parents and the topic had never come up in conversation. Cashew also noticed that Monsuta frequently held a spoon in his mouth, which at first he thought was something he forgot to put away after a meal, but later on turned out to just be a habit of his to chew on the piece of metal... Actually, after the cooking incident from the first night, Cashew was left with very few options of killing Monsuta, since he initially planned for the poison to finish the job. Monsuta had promised that they would go back into town soon, where Cashew could finally resupply on equipment he could use to kill him with, but they would only go after a week or so had passed because, apparently, someone who Monsuta knew was close by and he was very clear that they should avoid him at all costs. Furthermore, throughout the whole time Cashew had spent with Monsuta, he had always seen him with a childish and bubbly attitude, so on the morning where he saw the blonde in a rare state of melancholy whilst playing the instrument he claimed he cannot play, curiosity had gotten the better of him,no matter how much he hated the man.

“I do not like the piano, but I once knew someone who did. That person would bug me until I gave in and finally learned this song. It’s name is Autumn Leaves.”

A silence overcame the room and Monsuta felt very uncomfortable by it. He now fully understood that pianos are definitely not a subject he should use for conversation with Monsuta. Cashew desperately tried to think of what else they could talk about, if only to move on from this frozen moment.

“Well then, other than the piano what else do you dislike?” At this question, a goofy look overcame Monsuta’s face and Cashew immediately felt relived that the awkwardness was now a thing of the past.

“Erm, let me think...” Monsuta put his hand on his face in thought. “I don’t like water, I think it has a very uncomfortable and alien-like feeling to it... large crowds also displease me, especially if they all put on cologne or perfume on. Oh, how I hate people who spray on perfume- it just ruins their natural smell!” Cashew could tell Monsuta was thinking very seriously about the question, and although he couldn’t understand all of his dislikes, what he noticed was that Monsuta was slowly making his way downstairs. He did this whenever he had an urge to read one of his books, which is probably a habit which bloomed from the lack of anyone around him. It annoyed Cashew to the very bone, and this time he was determined to not let Monsuta escape so easily... was what he thought, but Monsuta had suddenly turned around in Cashew’s momentary thoughtfulness and was already running to the library.

“Hey wait! Don’t you dare go back to reading your books, I'm trying to have a conversation with you...” Cashew knew that if Monsuta got hold of a book, he wouldn’t be able to get through to the man until the next day. No way was he going to let this low-life murderers child ignore him in such a way! “Answer me this then, why do I never see you eating vegetables?” It was the only subject that came into Cashew’s mind at the moment, probably because it had been subconsciously nagging at him whenever the two shared a meal together.

But instead of having Cashew’s desired effect of holding up a conversation, Monsuta’s eyes lit up and it was at that moment that Cashew realised that he had messed up. “Vegetables? I don’t like them because green is the opposite of red. But you’re right, vegetables IS a great topic for a book today.” (How dare he!) Cashew was fuming from the answer and with his fresh burst of energy he managed to catch up to Monsuta and slam the door to the library shut right before the blonde had the chance to enter.

“I told you, I’m trying to have a conversation here!” Cashew challengingly stared up and into Monsuta’s eyes whilst also holding the door shut tight behind him. Was it his imagination or did Monsuta’s black eyes actually have a thin line of white pigment in the left corners of them? (That’s quite a rare eye colour... interesting.) No matter, for the other finally sighed in defeat.

“I guess you’re too energetic today to let me read in peace. So then, what do you dislike?” The question took Cashew by surprise, as he thought he was the one that would be starting all the conversations, but either way, he dared not show his surprise.

“I think hugs are disgusting...”

No sooner had Cashew said this did he wish to turn back time because instantly, Monsuta’s mouth turned into a mischievous grin. Now it was Cashew’s turn to run. “No! Don’t you dare; I’ll kill you if you so much as touch me!” Never before did he have the urge to kill this man than in this moment... which only proved how much Cashew hated hugs.

They spent the rest of the morning running around the house until, finally, the two exhausted men broke down onto the couch in the living room whilst each eating a sandwich Cashew had lazily made for lunch.

“Then tell me what do you like?” Monsuta asked after finishing his sandwich and putting the spoon he usually chewed on once again into his mouth.

“Well, cooking can be quite fun, and I used to sell flowers for a reason. How about you?” Monsuta quickly glanced back at Cashew before replying him self.

“I actually go out hunting quite often. The forest around my mansion is large and empty of people, so you can get quite a few good hunts out from here and there. There’s also reading, obviously, and posting photos on Facebook. Although you probably don’t have the slightest clue of what that is since it can be found in a different world...” but Cashew was no longer listening after the first sentence that Monsuta had said. At the mention of Hunting, Cashew’s mind was already racing with the thoughts of how amazing of an opportunity that would be to kill Monsuta. He was even ashamed at himself for wasting a whole week inside the house of his murderers and spending so much time with the son of the people who had killed his parents. “Let’s go hunting.” Cashew knew he could definitely end this mans life if only he had a gun, even if he had no experience with one.

Monsuta looked back with curiosity and, at seeing the determination in Cashews face, grinned widely and suddenly jumped up with excitement. “Great! I haven’t been in a long time, and it’s great that I’ll be able to enjoy a hobby of mine with my first ever guest. Give me a minute and we’ll be able to go.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

”You can erase pen writing with cucumbers... oh and here’s a good one, to avoid crying whilst chopping onions, hold a slice of bread in your mouth.”

The two men were each carrying a hunting rifle on their back and making their way through the forest; Monsuta’s reading, distant birds chirping and crunching of leaves as they walked were the only sound that could be heard in the cool, Autumn evening. Once the two agreed to go hunting they both decided to not wait any longer and ended up going the very same day before the sun set. Monsuta had told Cashew to follow closely behind him since he was a beginner, to which Cashew was more than delighted to because it meant that as soon as they would settle down somewhere to shoot pheasants, he could kill easily Monsuta. Yes, they were both very eager and very excited for their hunting session, yet the two had completely opposite motives.

“Eating too many carrots can make your skin turn orange.”

Monsuta had also said that he knew a great spot called ‘Pecker Gorge, which was not too far from the mansion and was apparently swarming with pheasants this time of year. Apparently the place was called that because once Monsuta had accidentally shot a woodpecker that had flown in-front of a pheasant during one of his first ever hunts. They ended up walking around for half an hour down a gently-sloping path whilst Monsuta kept reading out loud his ‘Vegetable Facts’ book, to which he had ended up getting a hold of despite everything that had happened, in order to pass time.

“Die your hair with beetroot to achieve a natural, red colour without using chemica- ah were here!” Monsuta’s voice quietened to a whisper and their pace suddenly slowed when they had turned a corner and entered a sort of long alley-way surrounded by hills of dirt and trees on either side. A few meters in front of them was a little ditch with some rocks and a bush growing to form a sort of canopy above it. “This is a perfect spot for a Hunter. Sheltered from all sides by rocks and protected by leaves from the top makes it really hard for animals to spot us.” They climbed into the ditch and Monsuta got onto his belly with his gun laying on top of a boulder. His hands got into position so he could be ready to shoot at any moment. “Sit back and watch how the pros work.”

They waited for quite a while. In the meantime, the sun was already falling quite low in the sky and Cashew was secretly having a mental breakdown at the back of the ditch. His initial plan was to kill Monsuta as they were waiting for the pheasants to appear, but as he levelled his rifle, placed his finger over the trigger, lowered his head and aligned his eyes with the rear sight, a bothersome thought that he would become a murdered himself if he shot Monsuta right now, and would become as lowly as the people who killed his parents, infested itself into his head. As far as he was concerned, Monsuta wasn’t even a murder, but the son of one. Although he does have rare moments where he becomes serious and unreadable, on the most part, Monsuta was a happy and innocent soul who was a bad cook and a little too obsessed with reading books and telling useless facts. (Why am I suddenly so conscious of killing the man I had been obsessed with killing for the past couple of days?)

Whilst Cashew was making himself more confused and annoyed, Monsuta was getting restless and worried that they won’t be able to catch anything before the sun sets. Just as he was about to call it quits, his eyes caught movement in the sky and with supernatural reflexes Monsuta took two, quick shots. The sudden, loud noise made Cashew’s soul nearly jump out of his soul. It echoed throughout ‘Pecker Gourge and no one let out a single breath in the long moments after the bang. “I think I got one,” without even looking back, Monsuta excitedly jumped up and ran down the alleyway, “Cashew, hurry up, let’s go see what we caught!”

Cashew forced himself to recover from the shock of the loud bang and on slightly wobbly legs, made his way out from inside the ditch. (Damn, I haven’t decided if I should shoot him yet.”) Either way, he ran after Monsuta in hopes that he will suddenly make up his mind. Oh and how very soon he did.

“It’s huge! Cashew, did you see how it’s done?” Somewhere up ahead Monsuta’s excited voice could be heard. Huffing, Cashew had eventually caught up with Monsuta, but upon seeing the proud way in which he held the pheasant along with the mad look of uncontrollable excitement and joy in his face, suddenly forced a flashback of a scene from 20 years ago to be remembered. Cashew slowed to a stop and a shadow overcame his face. (They’re all the same) was the conclusion that his thoughts came to. How could he have hesitated to shoot Monsuta back at ‘Pecker Gourge? After all, Monsuta had murderers blood in him and that made him the same scum as the people who killed Cashews parents. (I hold no pity or regret for you, for one moment I will even stoop to your level if only I can avenge my parents death!)

Giving out a ferocious shout from the bottom of his heart, Cashew drew his rifle and confidently focused it at Monsuta’s heart. Without another thought he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. Click! But no deafening bang came after. Confused, Cashew slowly opened his eyes and with disbelief saw that Monsuta was still healthy and standing.

“I, uhh, am very impressed with your enthusiasm, but the Pheasant is already dead. Thankfully that’s a good thing because it seems we forgot to load your gun.” Monsuta, nervously at first, and then whole-heartedly broke out into laughter. Ultimately ashamed, Cashew staggered back in defeat. (I’m sorry mother, father. But I am a fool who does not deserve to be your son.)

It took the whole trek back to the mansion before Cashew was even close to being back to his senses. Before entering the front doors, he took a moment outside and looked out into the already night sky. A new moon shone weakly, and the quiet and cool breeze finally calmed down Cashew’s nerves.

“You were lucky once again, Monsuta. But tomorrow is a new day, and I will not give up until my mission here is complete.” With a final sigh, Cashew went inside to cook pheasant for dinner.


	4. Bamboo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cashew spends the chapter being confused and surprised as both him, Monsuta and his two cats go into town.

Cashew was quietly standing outside and looking judgementally at the over grown garden that grew behind the mansion. The area was quite large, fitting a dusty and cracked pond, long forgotten benches, crumbling archway and surrounded by a worn out wooden fence. Everything had a thick layer of moss and was partly covered in vines and weeds. Cashew had finally finished cleaning the whole mansion of its previous, seemingly never-ending, dust and dirt, but Monsuta’s frequent accidents, such as knocking over dishes on the table or tripping over a bucket of coal also didn’t help to speed up Cashews job. Nevertheless, he could finally say that the house was spotless until Monsuta’s next accident, and now he could finally move on and do a job he actually enjoyed. Even by only looking, he could already tell what should be done and where, and already had an image in his mind of what the garden will look like after a few days of hard work...

“Cashew, hurry up we’re leaving!” A loud bang could be heard from the front of the house as the door shut along with the sound of hooves and carriage wheels rolling up to the main entrance. With an exasperated look on his face, Cashew also made his way to the front to find out what all the ruckus was about, and was immediately surprised to see two children sitting on the drivers seat of the carriage. They looked to be about 12 years old and were of opposite genders, but their similarity in dark blue eye and hair colour as well as face shape all hinted that they were siblings. Both were wearing a cream shirt with a beautiful embroidered pattern of a cat on a different side of their shoulders and had red lace bows tied to the bottoms of their elbow-length sleeves. Additionally, the girl also wore a red skirt while the boy had on some red shorts. Finally, both wore cream coloured socks and a pair of small, red shoes with a Velcro strap over the top of them. They were looking intently at Cashew while holding the rails to the two black horses attached to the carriage. Monsuta was impatiently waving at Cashew to hurry up and get into the carriage and, upon passing the children, Cashew noticed with a growing unease that their pupils were not round, but long and oval.

“Who are...”

“Oh yes! I never did finish introducing them to you, did I?” When Monsuta clapped his hands twice, the two children nimbly jumped down and stood together in front of them. “These are my two cats, Sasha and Alphy.”

“Nice to meet you I’m, huh?” Cashew stood for a while with a plain expression, unable to tell if he heard wrong or if Monsuta was playing a joke on him. “Come again..?”

“These are my two cats, Sasha,” Monsuta gestured to the dark, blue haired girl who shook hands with the, still shocked, Cashew, “and Alphy.” Monsuta then gestured to the dark, blue haired boy who in turn copied his sister and also shook hands with Cashew. The man mumbled a hello and continued to blankly stare at the two. “They can turn into humans at any time, and are very trusty drivers. Also, when I sometimes go out into London they look after the house for me; not to mention how they are the only companions I’ve had around me for the past couple of years, I’d give my life for them and they, the same.” Cashew had so many questions running through his mind during that one minute, that it even took him effort just to keep standing. (Is it true that shape shifters existed in this world? How did I never notice this before? Where was London? And... and...) and many more questions followed in pursuit. But before he had a chance to ask anything, the two children jumped back to hold the horses rails whilst Monsuta was already inside the carriage. Left with no options, Cashew slowly followed inside.

“Anything else you forgot to mention?” As the carriage started to move, Cashew’s usual annoyance at Monsuta was beginning to return.

Monsuta yawned and with already shutting eyes he managed to quietly make out a “I also have motion sleepiness,” and fell asleep for the rest of the journey with a spoon in his mouth and a book in his hand.

(This guy is unbelievable! He just falls asleep after telling me so many unbelievable and crazy things at once.) Feeling at his peak of annoyance, Cashew snatched the book that Monsuta was going to read and saw that the title for today was Bamboo. (I might as well read this while we travel to town, since I’ve got no one to talk to and nothing to kill Monsuta with...

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Is bamboo a tree or a grass?

Bamboo belongs to theBambusoideae subfamily of the perennial evergreen grass family Poaceae, Gramineae. It was German Botanist, Charles Kunth, that first published his taxonomic findings in 1815. Of all grasses, bamboo is the largest and the only one that can diversify into forest. Although bamboo is a grass, many of the larger woody bamboo species are very tree-like in appearance and are often called "bamboo trees". However, there are a few essential differences between grasses and trees....)

This was how the time passed for Cashew and in full honesty, he had forgotten his annoyance from before and had ended up getting fully emerged into the Bamboo book from his arch nemesis. It seems his gardener instincts had taken over and the guy didn’t even notice when they had come to a stop.

“You were reading my book?” Monsuta’s voice, which suddenly sounded from right next to Cashews ear, was what brought him back into the real world. The sounds of shouting people, smell of dusty streets and sight of little shops selling anything you could think of told Cashew that they had arrived back to the same town in which Monsuta had first found him.

“No, I was just taking a quick look at what nonsense you were reading for today.” Cashew grumbled while smacking the book shut and shoving it back into Monsuta’s hands with his usual look of disgust. Cashew knew that he would rather die than ever confess that he had enjoyed one of Monsuta’s books. (It was only because it was mildly connected to gardening) he kept stubbornly repeating to himself, but deep inside, he made a mental note to read more plant books when Monsuta wasn’t looking or asleep. As they walked to the old flower shop, it slowly dawned on Cashew that there were less people than usual out on the streets today. The people who were left looked tired, and no children were playing outside. Even though he knew it was strange, Cashews worries were immediately broken when, to his surprise, he saw fresh flowers had been set up around his old house.

“No way, Merl?” In awe he sped up his pace and at the sight of a big, bearded man he called out “Merl! When did you get back old man?” The other man turned around with a wide grin spread across his face. He was wearing some worn out dungarees and was in the middle of clipping the spikes off some roses.

“Good to see you, boy. I finally finished my job up North, the folks who ordered me had an extremely large, overgrown garden and very high standards at how they wanted me to shape them. I’ll be going to another one in the East this time tomorrow...” His voice died away when Monsuta approached closely followed by his two cats.

(Hmph, so much for those two being cats...)

Merl put his arm over Cashew and quietly whispered “Shirley told me, is that him?” Cashew nodded. “But don’t worry, I’ll get some more supplies from the cellar and I’ll have him dealt with in no time.” Merl gave him a hard look and then finally shrugged. “As long as you know what your doing boy...” Turning around, he put on his big smile and went back to selling flowers.

“Young sir! Please have a look at the fresh selection of flowers we've got out here-“ seeing Merl keeping Monsuta busy, Cashew quickly entered the flower shop, through his usual route down the stairs, and into the mad scientists cave. “Shirley,” he called out, “I’m back and I need a few things!”

Shirley emerged this time from behind a huge blanket that was covering something large. “So did you do it? Did you really kill him?”

“No, not yet... the bastard just keeps telling the grim reaper to come back another day.” Cashew had already started packing all the supplies he could think of using. This time he packed a few more things just in case one didn’t work, such as a hammer and some nails, another jar of poison, explosives, glue and etcetera. “Uh, this will sound a little strange but do you believe in magic?” It seems as though despite his usual, unfazed look on the outside, Cashew was still recovering from the shock of learning that shapeshifters existed.

“Why of course!” But this answer only made Cashew more shocked. Looking up from packing, Shirley continued, “just because you’ve had it easy and have not been exposed to any magic all your life, does not mean that it doesn’t exist.” She made her way back to whatever she was working on from before. “For example, this,” giving a strong pull onto a rope hanging from somewhere in the ceiling, the blanket in the corner was sent flying up into the air and revealed a gigantic metal structure underneath it, “is a time machine which I have created from magic dust and it should work soon enough. Come back in a month and it should be ready!” At this point, Cashew was just tired of being surprised at everything. Shirley let got of the rope and as the blanket fell back over the time machine, she walked back to Cashew, yet this time a shadow haunted her eyes. “Sadly, with magic comes evil, and a truly evil man had been around last week...”

(She must be talking about the reason the mood around town is so gloomy) Cashew thought.

“Oh Cashew, I’m so glad you came after he had left. Thankfully, he did not find out about the lab down here, but while he was in town, he treated everyone like dirt and only destroyed and stole goods to his hearts content. This man had a very strong and dark magical aura around him, so no one had dared stand up to him. People were sent into uncontrollable fear from the amount of bloodlust this man emitted, even if they were standing five meters away... Some people, children included, went missing during his time here.”

Could this man have been the one that Monsuta was avoiding before? How had he sensed him from all the way in the mansion? (What if those two were working together!?) Anger filled Cashew as easily as water could soak into a dry sponge. “I’m just glad you and Merl are alright.” And with those last few words, Cashew finished packing by putting in his old, iron dagger as the last thing he would need in his sachet, and made his way back up the stairs.

Emerging from the trap door once again, Cashew could make out the busy sound of shuffling and saw that Monsuta, his two cats, who were now back into their human form, and even Merl were carrying dozens of crates into Monsuta’s carriage.

“Hey, what’s happening out here?”

Monsuta was the one to excitedly reply, “well, I noticed how you were staring at the overgrown garden back at the mansion, and I remember how you mentioned that you liked flowers... so I bought this whole shop!”

“This is absolutely fantastic!” Merl chimed in, “with his purchase, we’ll have enough money for the next few months!”

For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Cashew was struck with disbelief.

“How dare you buy all these flowers for me! Don’t you know that this will just be more work for me?” Cashew angrily ran up to Monsuta and tried to take away the crate he was carrying.

“Watch out, Cashew! This one holds the same tulips I first saw at your shop, and these are by far the flowers I want to see most in out garden!”

“I won’t let you... take all of this back with us... there isn’t even enough space for us to sit!” Both of them were now pulling on the crate at full force and of course, after a while, Cashew’s sweaty hands were the ones to slip and the crate, along with Monsuta, went crashing down onto the floor. The sudden and loud bang caused the Monsuta’s two black horses to jump up in panic and before anyone could even move a muscle, they wildly kicked free of the carriage railings and the whole thing went rolling down the hill.

“After it!” A freaked out Monsuta wildly cried out. Everyone who had witnessed the scene had tried to stop the carriage and had had ran after it, but it was just too fast and ended up crashing at the end of the road and breaking into thousands of wood fragments. Monsuta was surprisingly quite athletic and was the first one to approach the heap of wood and dust. When Cashew also arrived, he heard Monsuta sigh in relief and the man slumped down to rest onto the ground. “Thankfully, because of the crates, most of the flowers are okay.”

Everyone else caught up and made sure that no one was hurt. Merl followed close behind and made it to the bottom of the road to inspected the damage as well. “It seems your horses ran away and the two children who you came with ran after them.”

“That’s ok, I’m sure they will make it back to the mansion soon enough” Monsuta calmly replied.

“So what now?” Cashew couldn’t help but dreadfully think that they would have to walk all the way back to the mansion by foot, and since Monsuta still carried his book, the journey would be more painful as he read the whole time.

“Well, Id kindly like to ask Merl here if i could get a new crate for those tulips back up by your shop... and any other flowers that had their crates destroyed.” While Merl did that, and the people started to leave from the scene since all the excitement was now over, Monsuta took out his Bamboo book once again and started to read out loud.

“Distribution of Native Bamboos around the world. Bamboo is naturally found as secondary vegetation in forests, but in some cases,”

“Hey what do you think your doing? Don’t we have some problems left to resolve other than the safety of your stupid flowers?” Cashew was seriously beginning to believe that he was going to die of stress from this man one day.

“Firstly, they are your plants. Secondly, I know the owner of that carriage standing over there. He should be going in roughly the same direction as we are and, if we wait for a little while, he should appear soon and hopefully he will let us travel with him. Now, where was I... oh, tight. But in some cases, they are the dominant vegetation type. Such is the case in northeast India where bamboo covers many thousands of square kilometers, and on the mountainsides of eastern Africa. Bamboos can also tolerate extreme conditions that most plants can't. Some species can grow from sea level to up to four thousand metres in the Andes and Himalayas, withstanding temperatures well below minus twenty degrees Celsius.”

(Huh, what was that? Bamboo seeds can tolerate extreme conditions?) Cashew had finally heard something interesting from this man. (That’s it! All I have to do to kill this man is to simply feed him bamboo shoots and wait for the plant to grow from inside him and suck out all of the life he has within!)

“Wait here.”

The sad thing was that, despite his looks, Cashew was in fact, a very dumb person. He had ran all the way to his shop, taken some bamboo seeds they had stored away in a dusty drawer, taken the crates that Merl had packed up, said his goodbyes and ran all the way back to where Monsuta was still reading.

“Hey Cashew, do you think Bamboo is a tree or a grass?”

“A grass, obviously. Now here, eat these seeds!”

I think we all know how this attempted murder finished in the end, don’t we?


	5. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares roam around in the air and trouble many people in the city...

Monsuta and Cashew sat waiting for only ten more minutes before the man, who owned the carriage that they were planning to ride, came out of a nearby house. He was steadily dragging a long, wooden box.

“Frank, let me help you with that!” Monsuta called out as he jumped up to greet the man. Frank was a short old man with a long, grey beard and worn-out clothes. Nevertheless, at the pace in which he was managing the box, he looked to be quite sturdy from a life of labour. The man gave a small nod in thanks, and the two slowly carried the box up and into the back of the others unbroken carriage. Unlike Monsuta’s dark and relatively small transport, this one was made up of lightly coloured wood and was so much larger, that it was attached to four, hazel and white, speckled horses, as opposed to Monsuta’s two black ones. Once the box was secured in the back, the two got into some sort of serious conversation that Cashew couldn’t quite make out from where he was sitting. By the time he decided to come up to hear better, Monsuta was already making his way back with his usual giddy smile on his face and gave two thumbs up.

“He said we can grab a ride with him since he has to transport some cargo into a small village past the woods we live in.” Monsuta then gestured to the crates of flowers on the ground, and both Cashew and Monsuta started loading them onto where the large box had gone earlier. Cashew stepped into the body of the carriage through a flap serving as a door at the back. He was reluctantly holding the crate of tulips (which had started this whole mess), when he noticed that there were about four other human-sized boxes stacked at the back. The inside was damp and poorly lit, as opposed to the vehicle’s welcoming exterior. It was basically the opposite of Monsuta’s carriage, which had a haunting outer appearance whilst the inside felt comfortable. The space which Cashew was currently in made him feel uneasy, knowing that he would have to sit in here for the next hour and a half, and he even developed a small urge to go back into Monsuta’s carriage, which he had already gotten used to.

“So... by transporting cargo, do you mean...”

“Oh yes, I haven’t introduced you two yet! Frank, meet Cashew- he’s a new worker of mine. And Cashew, this is Frank. He is the friendly neighbourhood coffin maker, but not of this town, that’s why you don’t know him.”

“It’ naas to meet yer,” said Frank in a grave and rugged voice, “ I nev’ thought da’ dis ol’ fellow raa’t hea wood ev’ let an’won b clos’ to ‘im.”

With one final handshake, the three men mounted the carriage and started to set off and out of town. Already with droopy eyes, Monsuta feebly lifted a flap in the side that served as a curtain, and looked out into the streets. Cashew could see that it was beginning to get dark, and the market people were already packing up for the day. Suddenly, Monsuta slapped himself in the face with both hands at full force, and nearly made Cashew jump out of his skin.

“Frank, stop the cart for a minute, will ya?” Monsuta shouted out whilst desperately fighting sleep. The carriage stopped and Cashew could only watch with wide eyes as Monsuta jumped out and ran off somewhere. What had the other seen outside? Or did he remember about the trap door in Cashews shop and suddenly have the urge to see what’s inside before they leave? (Did he suddenly regain his murderous instincts that run in his family and go out to kill someone? Kill Shirley and Merl?) This thought made Cashew jump up abruptly in panic, but he was immediately pushed back down as someone from the other side of the flap rammed into him and knocked him over.

“Ouch, sorry, I remembered that I need to order a new carriage to be made for me by next time I come back into town.” Monsuta said whilst rubbing his head. Cashew was about to go on a rampage on how this guy’s every move was making him go crazy, but as soon as Monsuta was inside, the carriage had started moving once again and the blonde fell asleep before Cashew could gather his thoughts. Left by himself, Cashew kicked one of the boxes that was placed next to him in order to vent out his annoyance, and angrily sat down facing away from the sleeping Monsuta.

He heard a slow creek sound from behind him and Cashew’s first thought was that he had woken up Monsuta with his racket. Still angry though, he made a silent vow with himself that for the rest of his week, Cashew was neither going to talk to or notice Monsuta no matter what the other wanted. Cashew then felt a weight on his body and, with his annoyance already overflowing, couldn’t help himself and spun around.

“Monsuta, I swear! I don’t care what you want, I don’t want to see you or- eeek!!” Cashew screamed like a little girl and his face immediately turned as pail as a ghost. About a centimetre away from him, stared back a skeleton head. The fact that it was staring right at cashew made him loose all control and, in complete terror, he closed his eyes and flailed his arms into all directions, whilst also jumping from foot to foot in a measly attempt to throw off the skeleton. One of its fingers was stuck onto a pocket in Cashews shirt and the brainless man did not realise this fact, continuing to dance with the bones. He thought that it was angry and possessed because he has kicked the skeletons coffin. Finally, it fell off when Cashew stumbled over one of Monsuta’s legs. A few moments passed where only the shacking of the carriage and Monsuta’s light snores could be heard. Still shaking and with heavy, irregular breaths, Cashew slowly forced himself to look around and noted that only a sleeping Monsuta, a swinging coffin door could be seen. But the corpse was no where to be found. He thought long and hard on wether or not all of the past 10 minutes were only a comedic nightmare, but then a thought brought him running to the flap at the back of the carriage. When he lifted it up, he saw, with great disbelief, that the dead body was lying in the middle of the road where they had just driven past. Cashew unsteadily walked back to where he was sitting and was left wondering at what to do next. It seems that in his moment of annoyance he must have kicked open one of the coffins and when the body fell out, he panicked and accidentally pushed the corpse off of his body and sent it flying out of the coach!

(Hmm what to do now though...) He looked at the empty coffin and then again over to the sleeping Monsuta. That’s it! He won’t wake up until the carriage stops moving and even after that, there’s no way he would be able to open the coffin from the inside. This is a chance for definite death.

With a grunt, Cashew lifted Monsuta and half pushed, half rolled him into the coffin. Looking around, he found that the skeleton had dropped a handkerchief, and he quickly covered Monsuta’s face with it. (This way if they take a look inside, they’ll see the handkerchief and think it’s the guy from before!) He then securely locked the lid shut. Pleased with himself, Cashew clapped his hands together in triumph, dusted himself off and sat back down. Looking around once again, he saw Monsuta’s book lying on the ground beside him and decided to read the rest of the bamboo book. 

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

At first it was dark and stuffy. A few moments passed before a red glow lit up the space around him. Looking on in disbelief at the pile of dead bodies, the air around him took the aroma of a butchers shop. Where there had once been smooth skin was now torn muscle and blood. Limbs lay in unnatural angles and he could see the white glint of bones sticking out. Upon looking at the crimson-sprayed walls, he felt something warm on his hands. Lifting them up for a closer inspection, he saw, with dread, that they were dark red and had fresh blood slowly oozing off of the tips of his fingers.

Monsuta woke up with a start; heart still pounding and mind full of gory images that he’d just seen moments ago. Adrenaline was still flowing strongly through his veins, but as he continued to lay there, his breathing rate started to steady. He must have had another nightmare while he was asleep, one he had seen a few times now. Noticing a stale scent of blood, Monsuta shifted his focus on where he was; finding only complete darkness and cold, wooden walls on all sides.

He gave a small push, but to no avail. He dejectedly dropped his hands by his sides and laughed sadly. Monsuta did not feel panic, instead, he felt that something like this was bound to happen one day.

(Fate is a funny little thing,) he reflected, (she must be telling me that I deserve to be locked up in here for enjoying life too much... after all that I’ve done I still dare to laugh and smile. Now I will get what I deserve and will rot until I fully become one with the earth.)

In the darkness, he thought of his cats and his horses... even the mansion and how he didn’t say goodbye to any of them. His thoughts then wondered on to the garden he was so excited about and then to his most recent experiences with Cashew, and how he had enjoyed having someone’s company for the first time in a while. Monsuta remembered passing his store one day on that busy market street. He had initially planned to buy some food to restock at the mansion, but noticed something peculiar with Cashew when he closely passed by and immediately forgot all about his original plan. You see, every human has a smell. No, Monsuta doesn’t notice if they smell good or bad, just like he cannot taste the food that he eats, but instead, he smells how strong or how weak a person’s natural smell is. For example, if they put on perfume, their natural smell is less apparent. But with Cashews case, Monsuta could smell absolutely nothing. The rarity pushed Monsuta to propose a job for him and in turn, also got him more interested in the guy’s unusual behaviour. Monsuta knew that Cashew didn’t like him and, even though he didn’t fully understand why, he desperately wanted to change that.

(Well of course, I still want to read a lot of my books, and visit London again. I must also hug Cashew at least once, if only to see his expression after; it’s just too amusing!) The more he thought about it, the more he started to chuckle to himself. (Then it’s decided. I can’t die just yet, sorry.)

Some sort of alien substance made its way into his veins. Mustering up his strength from his new found motivation, Monsuta rammed his hands into the wall with inhuman strength, making the very hinges rip off as if they were paper and sent the door of the coffin hurling a few feet away. Some dirt and pebbles also had gone flying in all directions, whilst others tumbled into the sudden hole. Monsuta got up and brushed himself clean, then, looking around, he noticed that he was in the middle of a graveyard.

“Wait a second, how did I end up all the way here?” He mumbled to himself, “if I’m not mistaken, this graveyard is near Red Ranch city, which means... I have to walk 21 miles?!”

Looking up, Monsuta saw a half moon in the sky. Left without a choice, he started on his long journey back home.

“I can’t believe I even lost my book...”


	6. Selfie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cashew finally opened the forbidden door in Monsuta’s mansion, but it seems everything on the other side is either possessed or trying to kill him?!

The carriage had finally stopped. Pushing through the flap, Cashew emerged onto the path that lead through Monsuta’s twisted gates and up to the front door. Looking back one more time at the unmoving coffin in which only an hour ago Cashew had stuffed the blonde in, he shook his head and started unloading the crates of flowers onto the floor nearby.

“Was the ride alright?” Shouted Frank as he jumped down to help him.

“Yes, we’re very grateful for your help.”

“And where is Monsuta?”

“Oh... he ran inside quickly; said he was dying to go to the bathroom or something” lied Cashew. He quickly glanced at the coffin, but to his relief it was still not moving. (Monsuta might actually be sleeping from tiredness by all that crate lifting and chasing after his carriage) thought Cashew. (Wait a second, if he is now destined for death why am I even bothering with all of these crates anyway? It was just part of his plan to make me work more!) but no longer had he finished this thought, had he heard a quiet thump coming from inside Monsuta’s coffin. In panic, Cashew dropped whatever he was holding, and rushed up to Frank, snatching away the crate he was carrying.

“I think we’re all done here, thank you again for all your help... it’s ok, I’ll manage carrying these up to the mansion. Oh... we must have taken a lot of time from you, yeah? You can hurry on your merry way then!”

Cashew was frantically pushing a very confused Frank up to the drivers seat and then pulled on the rails to control the horses and jumped off. The old man looked back with wide eyes, but then eventually shrugged his shoulders and waved back, then fully began controlling his horses to continue his journey. Cashew continued to stare intently at the back of the carriage just in case Monsuta had somehow woken up and gotten out, but no such thing happened. (Had my plan actually worked?) Cashew dared to be hopeful.

But his optimism quickly died away when he saw the stacks of crates that surrounded him. (Even when he is not around, Monsuta has the demonic power to make me annoyed!) Cashew started to angrily carry one crate into the mansion, and upon opening the front doors, he remembered something.

“I wonder if this will work...” he mumbled to himself and then clapped two times like Monsuta had once done, was almost immediately met by Sasha and Alphy, who appeared in front of him.

“You called for us?” They asked in sync.

“I... I didn’t think that it would actually work, but yes, I did call for you.”

“We came to your claps only because you are a good friend of masters.” Answered Alphy.

(A good friend?) scoffed Cashew to himself, (either they are terribly mistaken, or ‘good friends’ nowadays try to kill one another!)

“Speaking of which, where is out master?” Asked Sasha in a monotone voice, making it hard for Cashew to figure out her inner thoughts.

“Didn’t I tell you? He stayed in town for some business with the Carriage. Now, help me with all of these crates.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

A few more hours had passed since all the crates of flowers had been moved inside. Cashew had fallen asleep on the couch and in the morning he now lay sprawled out while eating a sandwich that he had made, much like the one that he and Monsuta had had on the day of their hunting trip. Each moment that passed sent shivers of excitement down his spine as he thought more and more on how Monsuta will never be coming back. He considered that what he had done was brilliant, in the way that, if Monsuta’s parents were to ever find out that their son was dead, they would be sent into immense grief, but be unable to pinpoint who had committed the crime... or wrongly accuse the coffin maker... or the people who had hired him. (My parents have finally been avenged, he thought with a happy fluttering in his stomach.) The house and his carriage now belonged to Cashew, except, what was he to do now, he still had to figure out.

Finishing his last mouthful, Cashew lazily got up and decided to spend some time looking closely at every detail of the house. Now that Monsuta was not present, he allowed himself to look into various cupboards and drawers that he had never dared to before. He hoped to find any more information about the man who he had tried to kill for the past month, such as any secret notes that Monsuta could be hiding. Nevertheless, Cashew only found more books stuffed here and there, and various, old shopping lists that Monsuta had used to go into town with. He also sometimes found round pieces of flat metal, with different faces and numbers drawn onto them. He was beginning to give up from disappointment, when on the last floor, he remembered stood a door that Monsuta had told him to stay away from. With something new to do, Cashew gingery ran up to the door and noticed that next to it hung a small envelope that was the same colour as the wall. (Finally something exciting,) Cashew couldn’t help but think wishfully to himself, whilst reaching into the envelope at the same time, (I will finally see Monsuta’s deepest and darkest secrets today- but firstly, what on earth is this?)

In the envelope he felt some sort of smooth, cold, metal object. Taking it out, he saw that it was a rectangle shape and flat; it had smooth edges and was black in colour, decorated with various bumps and shiny surfaces. He shook it a few times and placed it close to his ears in hopes of hearing something, but nothing happened. Unamused by the thing, he just registered it as some rock that Monsuta had picked up once, and threw it onto the ground. Upon impact, the object buzzed suddenly and lit up. This action startled Cashew,who jumped up and ran behind the piano. The object stayed alight and, when Cashew made sure that it was no longer going to move, he cautiously approached the thing. Lifting it up to his face, he squinted his eyes to look past the bright, unnatural light that it gave off, and saw that strange English words and multiple colours had appeared on one of the smooth surfaces of the object. When Cashew had finally gotten used to the light, the thing burnt out and suddenly became black again.

He did not understand the thing, but knew that he did not like it. With care this time, he placed it back into the envelope that he had found it in and decided to focus on the mysterious door instead. He wasn’t as excited this time, as the unknown made him feel weary after seeing the mysterious object, and Cashew had a bad feeling that more strange things would be behind this door. Mustering up any last courage he possessed, he twisted the handle and gave a push. Nothing happened. He tried again with both hands, but again the door only shook slightly. Annoyed, Cashew stepped back a little and, with a run up this time, he crashed his whole body into the door and immediately lost his balance as it swung open. He flew out of the other side and with a few painful grunts, rolled down a few stairs, landing onto concrete. He did not move from the pain for a while until he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Still in a haze, Cashew looked up and saw a worried face of a woman looking down at him. She had neatly tied up hair, brown hair and tired, green eyes. She wore black clothing which Cashew had never seen the style of before. She stood there, looking at him with wide eyes and held out a hand to him.

“Are you ok? You flew outta there faster than any rocket I’ve ever seen before!” She said in an annoying, high pitched voice that made Cashew snap back into reality.

“Yes, I’m quite alright, thank you.” He took her hand and shakily stood up. As soon as he got back onto his own two feet again, she gave a small nod and hurried down the street. The street...

Cashews eyes followed her for a split second before he realised that something gigantic was standing before him. He slowly looked up and saw miles of stone towering above him. These enormous structures grew out on either side of the street, and glistened evilly as the sun shined its rays onto them. It was at this moment that Cashew also noticed the beasts which angrily roared as they passed only a few centimetres away from his feet. In terror, Cashew scrambled back up the stairs he had fallen from and nervously made eye contact with the beasts blaring eyes. They did not seem to notice him, and all the strangely dressed people which passed also did not seem to care for the monsters that could crush them at any moment. Cashew also noticed a strong scent of tar in the air, causing his nose to burn and his eyes to turn teary. Not a single tree or flower could be seen and the sky was as grey as everything else that surrounded him.

(Where am I?) he continuously repeated to himself. He spent a long time on the cold stairs, looking out in amazement and horror at the scene he had found himself in. Hours passed where he just sat there, frozen to the spot and alone like an abandoned kitten. The woman from before was the only person who seemed to notice him, as every other person simply walked past with emotionless faces and dressed in black from head to toe. They all seemed to be in a hurry, moving together, as if possessed, and somehow managing not to fall over one another. A lot of them carried the same metal objects that Cashew had earlier found in the envelope, with which those people would seemingly speak into the empty air. This deeply confused Cashew, but he did not dare ask them what they were doing, just in case he were to be possessed as well. He then studied the monsters a little more closely. They were of various sizes and colours, yet each one could kill him if it wanted. They had four, rolling legs and only ran in the centre of the street. At one point, he noticed with despair that people were trapped inside their bellies, but they seemed unfazed. (It is probably something that resembles a carriage) Cashew came to the conclusion. The towers of stone on the other hand, were monsters which did not move, yet also contained people and grew as high as forty stories into the air. Another thing Cashew learned was that everyone seemed to speak and write in English. (This must be one of the things that Shirley said was made of magic... Monsuta’s door must be somehow leading to a whole new world in which strange clothing and futuristic machines roam along with humans.)

Still with a little bit of fear, Cashew finally pushed off of the ground and decided to explore this land a little more. With a huff, he tried to take a step into the street and immediately was swept away by the flow of briskly walking people. He had no control for a few long moments as to which direction he wanted to go. He had failed to notice that as the day grew longer, more and more people populated the busy streets. He was eventually pushed out into a larger street than the one Monsuta’s door had led out onto, and was once again struck with awe as even more people, beasts and towers of stone greeted him.

With a little more space around him, Cashew managed to regain control of where he wanted to walk, and slowly made his way down the concrete path. He made sure to keep away as much as possible from the growling carriages, and instead looked inside the stone towers, eventually realising that they were actually various shops and houses that people used. This is how Cashew had spent the next few hours, staring past enormous glass walls at various clothes, buns, books and toys that were available in this world.

He did not understand the way anything worked around here yet, even after spending a day on the long street, yet one thing he did learn was that when crossing a single path where the roaring carriages ran and joined up to the main street, he should follow the flow of people in order to cross safely. He did not know why or how, but the monsters stopped sometimes to let the people pass. (Maybe they are not as scary as I had first intended... but still, I must not take any chances and make sure to never cross the large street... over there, they never stop!) Cashew slowly came to think.

This street was so big and had so many interesting and strange possessions, that Cashew easily managed to spend the whole day there. It was beginning to get dark when he had nearly gotten used to the tar in the air and he heard a familiar voice being carried in the wind. Immediately, Cashew stopped looking into the candy shop he had been passing by and instead frantically looked side to side to see if he could pinpoint the owner of the voice. Walking a little bit away, Cashew realised that the voice was coming from a poorly lit alleyway which he had not noticed before, and after a few moments of hesitation, he decided to enter. Cashew didn’t understand how he had heard the voice from the racket of the busy street, nor why he had followed it... after all, it was impossible for HIM to be able to be here, right?

As Cashew continued deeper into the alley, the voice mingled with a few other unknown voices and their conversation became clearer. Cashew quickened his pace into a light jog.

“Listen pall,” came a rough and menacing voice, “we won’t hurt ya, that is, if you comply....”

“Yeah,” another voice, more high pitched and squeaky, but with the same menace joined in “just give us ya wallet and ya expensive lookin’ phone and we’ll leave ya be- all in one piece but with a few additional broken bones!” Along with the two unknown voices joined in a few more as they all broke out into mad laughter.

“Hey, guys, listen here, I don’t want no trouble, I just need to find my friend!” at the sound of this voice Cashew started running and, upon quickly rounding a corner, nearly bumped into one of the men whom Cashew had heard was threatening before. There were about five men that Cashew could make out in the dark, all of different size and shape, but all unmistakably dangerous. Most held a knife or a broken bottle in their hands and all wore a red bandanna around their left leg, probably signifying that they were part of some sort of gang. The guy who Cashew thought was the leader, wore ripped, black leather jeans and jacket, was twice as tall as him, and had muscles so big, each were the size of a Cashews head. He slowly looked back at the appearance of Cashew and smiled with a row of golden teeth.

“Cashew! It’s good to finally see you, I was looking for you all night and all day!” A relived voice came from behind the leader of the gang and, when Cashew looked over one of Golden Teeth’s humongous shoulders, he saw a smiling Monsuta sitting on a rubbish bin with dusty clothes and ruffled hair. It seems Cashew was right at pinpointing the voice. He sighed in relief at finding out that the other seemed unhurt, and immediately felt disgusted with himself. (Why is he not dead in the coffin I left him in? How dare he survive?) he thought with increasing anger.

“Oh, so it seems you brought a little friend with ya, eh?” Golden Teeth spoke, slowly turning fully around and facing Cashew.

(Friend?! Is he making fun of me?)

“Are you kidding me,” Cashew spat, “friend? I don’t care what happens with this man, please take care of him... you’d do me a favour!”

Cashew turned around and huffed in annoyance as he walked back up the alley. It seems his response took the gang by surprise since they didn’t move even after he started to leave.

“Hey Cashew!” Monsuta’s voice rang out, “Wait for me, I still haven’t shown you around Lon-“

“Hey, where do ya think ya going, man?” The leader and his gang members sprung back into action at the sound of Monsuta jumping off of the trash can. Golden Teeth went in for a punch at Monsuta’s face, but the other nimbly ducked and continued to walk after Cashew. This meant that Golden Teeth missed and instead, ended up punching a wall directly behind.

“Cashew, wait for me!” Monsuta didn’t pay any attention to the attack, he only thought of catching up to Cashew.

“After him!” The groaning leader managed to cry out to his members as he sank down and curled up around his fist in agony.

Two people swung their fists at Monsuta this time, from both his left and right side, but the blonde simply took a step back, which resulted in the two people knocking each other out.

“Cashew! Wait, at least take a selfie with me since it’s your first time to the city!”

But Cashew did not care about what was happening behind him. His thoughts were still full of how it was possible for Monsuta to be here, alive and well.

The blonde, in the meantime, was trying to catch up when suddenly something glistened in the corner of his eyes. Two more gang members jumped onto Monsuta, this time one managed to grab his throat, while the other tried to smash his bottle onto Monsuta’s head, but Monsuta bent down at the exact same time, pulling the man who clung to his throat up and making the other smash the bottle onto his fellow gang member. When Monsuta had picked up whatever was glistening on the floor, he abruptly got up and accidentally head butted the last gang member- meaning everyone who wore a red bandanna on their left leg was now either knocked out or writhing in pain.

“Oh, sorry about that. Hey common, Cashew!”

Monsuta finally caught up with Cashew back at the main street and the other finally stopped. Giving an agitated sigh, Cashew spun round with anger blazing in his eyes.

“How did you end up in that alleyway?” He finally managed to ask through gritted teeth.

Monsuta rubbed the back of his neck and nervously sighed.

“Well you see... you won’t believe this, but I woke in a grave yard. I had to then walk all the way back home and when I found out that you had gotten through into London, i was overjoyed and immediately wanted to find you so that I could show you around. That’s when I started running around all the streets and came across this candy shop, thinking ‘jee, it would be great to share a packet of Maltesers with Cashew!’ And so, i took out the pound coins i had in my pocket, when one of them rolled down into this alleyway... and when I went to get it, these men-“

Cashew could stand this no longer. Mustering up all of his angry energy, Cashew shoved Monsuta right into the path of one of those growling carriages, silently waiting for the moment he would hear a screech and a thud that would mean the end of Monsuta’s life. But no such thing came. In total shock, Cashew saw how Monsuta lay in the middle of the street with a line of growling carriages standing mere inches away from him.

“Yeah! That’s exactly what they did! Except they pushed me onto a rubbish bin, not the street-” Monsuta jumped right back up and gleefully brushed himself off.

“How... are you a demon or something? Why did they stop just now?” Cashew barely managed to whisper out his despair. All day had he seen these ruthless monsters drive down the centre street, but he had never seen them stop for one man before!

“Oh, uhm, the traffic lights have turned red.” Monsuta answered, taking a closer look at Cashews grimacing face.

(How has this lucky bastard managed to survive three deaths in less than 24 hours?) was all that Cashew managed to think at that moment. Monsuta simply patted the others shoulder and bought both of them a packet of Maltesers. Then, thetraffic lights turned green and the cars continued to drive down the street.


	7. Spoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Through gardening and dancing, deep secrets are uncovered in both men’s lives.

Cashew blew his nose for the fifth time that day, currently standing in the middle of a bunch of overgrown bushes in the corner of Monsuta’s garden. It was not a sunny day, nor a rainy day - filled with clouds that stretched out for miles on end, quite bright with a cool, Autumn wind. It was only a few days after Cashew and Monsuta had come back from London and since then only Cashew had caught a light cold, frequently coughing and sniffling. Nevertheless, he was now out gardening if only he didn’t have to stay under the same roof as Monsuta, but the blonde had not gotten the message and had followed him outside, once again reading his book.

“Plants really do respond to sound. Talking to plants to help them grow is a well-known old wives' tale, but [studies have shown](http://news.psu.edu/story/141343/2008/08/25/research/probing-question-does-talking-plants-help-them-grow) vibration, like music, or perhaps even the sweet sound of your voice, can affect plant growth.”

(Great now he has an excuse to be reading out loud...) Cashew thought with annoyance. He longed to shut up Monsuta’s reading, even if it were for a little while.

“Tell me, why do you always carry a metal spoon in your mouth?”

Monsuta was doing so now, whilst skilfully still being able to read out loud. This question, it seems, caught him off guard, since the blonde followed by not replying for several, long moments.

“It is a means of escape from this world, a token from my last major sin...” Cashew caught an uneasy glint in Monsuta’s eyes. White eyes. Fully white eyes? Cashew didn’t have enough time to ponder on the thought before Monsuta spoke again. “When the time is right, the metal will oxidise and kill me for the sins that I have committed. I do not know when that time will come, but the fact that it is taking this long must only mean that I have not atoned enough.”

Many questions sprouted from what Cashew had just heard, yet due to Monsuta’s facial expression, as well as resuming of reading, all hinted that Monsuta would answer no more for today. (He must be troubled due to his ancestors.) Cashew sighed and decided to ignore any further reading done by Monsuta and instead focused on what he was going to do today. He had already decided that half was going to be a vegetable garden, the other a flower garden. Of course, since winter were to be the next season he was not going to start planting anything, but he had to prepare for the upcoming spring. There was still plenty of work to be done before anything he wanted could thrive in here. (Hmm, there is enough space on either side of the walkway... looks like the soil here is a little too rocky... but a very good spot for sunlight. I’ve already checked the soil on this side, I’ll have to add a few more nutrients if I want the flowers to have full green leaves.) After examining each little detail, Cashew decided to work on the overall image of the garden. He started moving out large broken slabs of stone, raking up all the weeds and clipping all the vines that had grown on all the sides.

By the time Cashew had removed most of the rocks in the ground and had replaced the soil with rich, fresh earth from the forest, he started to feel a few sprinkles of water on his face. Looking up, he realised that it had begun to rain and had in general gone darker. The weather was not nearly as bad as it had been in London, where today it slowly became greater in volume whilst maintaining its lightness and proving not too painful to stand under. Cashew stretched out a palm and upon feeling the rain, understood that any further work today would prove futile. He decided to start packing up and call Monsuta to go back inside, only to realise that the other was already no where to be seen. The breeze from before suddenly caught speed and sent a chill down his spine, latching onto and cooling his sweat as he stood by the house and searched for Monsuta. (He must have gone inside when I was working so I didn’t even notice) and with a final sneeze, Cashew made his way to the front entrance.

A fast, upbeat melody creeps it’s way towards Cashew’s ears the more he approaches the, slightly ajar, door. It was a playful and jazzy piece played from the piano upstairs, yet it sounded as clear as if it were played just beyond the walls on the ground floor. The swinging beats played in the minor key bring a hint of sadness to the tunes, a sort of bitter-sweetness to the melody, yet nonetheless power new energy through Cashew’s veins and even make him swing side to side, almost skipping by the time he is in contact with the doorknob.

Upon turning his hand and pushing forward, he was met with a surprising scene of Monsuta tap-dancing in the middle of the living room floor. Cashew’s eyes widened as he stared at the mesmerising movements that Monsuta was creating, in rhythm with the deep beats that had the power to transform anyone into a swinging and jiving monster. He was embracing the music and in turn the music took control. He was in another world, with closed eyes failing to notice the appearance of Cashew, and thus unable to cover up the distant and painful facial expression he wore on his face, significantly contrasting his bodily movements. For some reason his mind today was in a world of pain.

(Where did he learn to dance this way?) was all that Cashew could bring to mind as his breath was taken away from the dazzling grace flowing from Monsuta’s soul. He was unleashing so much emotion - feelings that Cashew could not even begin to comprehend; as if in this moment, Monsuta needed the music as much as he needed to breathe. His entire being moved with purposeful clarity, each stride painfully more obvious of how much heart was being put into the taps and the turns, and how punishing it was for him.

Finally, the piano slowed to a stop, the unharmonious ending leaving an unsatisfying tang at the back of Cashew’s throat. The spell had been broken and, wiping off the sweat that had formed on his forehead, Monsuta caught the gaze of Cashew and smiled awkwardly at him.

“Wow, did you actually see that?” The blonde laughed with embarrassment and began helping put some of Cashew’s gardening equipment away. The whole time his bangs drooped with sweat in front of his forehead, covering and casting a shadow over his eyes.

“It started raining outside.” Cashew’s ears were once again brought back alight as a new song started from upstairs, this time a slow and light tune, romantic and calm. “Who is playing the piano?”

“Sasha and Alphy. I taught them a while ago since I do not enjoy playing the piano myself... on another note, did you know that butterflies might be more attracted to your weeds than your flowers?”

Cashew threw a doubtful look towards Monsuta, but the other simply continued.

“Colourful blooms aren't the biggest reason these insects love your garden – it's more about the fragrance and nectar. Everyday weeds, like dandelions and clovers, might actually be the most appealing things in your garden to butterflies.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, i won’t get rid of all the weeds we have, but why do you suddenly have a strong urge to keep pet butterflies?”

“No reason, I heard they are quite beautiful...” he smiled softly and then placing the last of the equipment away, started walking back towards the middle of the living room. “At least that’s what she thought.”

Cashew barely heard the last sentence due to the music growing in volume and once again picking up the pace. He let his eyes trail behind Monsuta for a few more moments, who ended up just standing in the middle, but upon heading to the kitchen Cashew heard that the blonde had started to dance again.

Cashew turned on the tap and washed his muddy hands in the sink. Dirt had made its way into every possible crack, turning the tips of his finger nails black. The soil in this part of the forest was filled with rusty grains, which, when mixed with water, turned a dark, reddish-brown colour. Cashew monitored the fluid as it splattered against the metal sides and gushed slowly down the drain. The dark holes at the bottom stretched endlessly out, into the unknown, past where no man could be seen nor heard. The red water disappeared into it.

Once clean, Cashew proceeded to wiping his hands dry, noticing now that the music had taken a sad turn for the use of some sombre harmonies - a dejected tempo with various high pitched notes played quietly... almost uncertainly.That was the moment that Cashew saw a spoon laying on the side of the table, between the sink and the towel he had been wiping his hands on. (That’s the spoon Monsuta always chews on... I can never truly understand the guy.)

He walked up closer to inspect the object, noticing that it was of stainless steel, heavily scratched and bared multiple intricate patterns of flowers and vines on the tip of its handle. Then, Cashew read a single word on the other side of the spoon which made his blood turn to ice. Involuntarily, his eyes widened and he swung the spoon as far away as possible from him, causing it to crash somewhere in a distant corner of the kitchen.

Revanche.

Why? Why was that the word imbedded into the very body of this metal? An image suddenly flashed through Cashews mind of a boy cowering in a closet and despairingly looking through a crack to see what was happening on the other side.

Cashew slowly started to make his way back to the living room.

The boy continued to stare as a man who had just murdered his mother started to leave.

Cashew walked closer and closer towards Monsuta.

The boy sees the man take an ornament from the glass cabinet by the door.

Cashew approached Monsuta, who had stopped dancing and was now staring at him.

The boy catches a look at the mans facial features before he completely disappears.

Cashew tightly grasped Monsuta by both of his shoulders.

The man has blood on his face and bright, red eyes.

Right now, Monsuta had bright red eyes.

“No... impossible” loosing his grip on Monsuta’s shoulders, Cashew staggered back. (What is happening? How is this possible? How does Monsuta have his eyes?) Only after walking back until he could lean onto a wall for support, did Cashew finally remember to breathe.

The murderer that Cashew had been despising this whole time was not Monsuta’s parents, but Monsuta himself! Cashew looked up once again to reassure his newfound realisation, yet Monsuta’s eyes were no longer red. Had he imagined it? No. Cashew was certain that Monsuta had red eyes, making him look identical to the man on the night of his parents death. Now his eyes were plain white, not a single black pigment left in them, but a gut feeling told Cashew that Monsuta had not aged at all and he keeps the same spoon that was taken from his family house hold all those years ago.

How did he know this? Well, Cashews last name is Revanche.

“You look troubled. Two troubled souls can either add to, or relieve some of the pain they feel. So, Cashew, may you grant me a last dance?” Monsuta had an outstretched arm and was looking intently into Cashew’s eyes. Despite the music continuing to play, it felt like time had slowed to a stop.

“Yes,” a shadow befell Cashews face, and some sort of demonic power took over him, making him suddenly able to control himself. “I will grant you your wish” he murmured, pushing himself off the wall and creeping his hand towards the knife in his pocket. (I will grant you your wish, but not to dance, but to kill you!) and with that thought, Cashew lunged at Monsuta with the iron knife of his childhood.

“Great!” Quite contrary to Cashew’s actions, Monsuta grew a grin on his face and grabbed the others arm, pulling him into an abrupt spin. As if on cue, the music gained in speed and energy.

“What are you doing?!” Having his world suddenly spiral instantly made Cashew dizzy, yet not enough to make him forget his goal. Lunging a second time with his knife, Monsuta did not even notice how close to death he was, instead easily dodging the knife and pulling Cashew up and over his head. The music hit a crescendo and again Cashew found himself back on the ground. Bum-ba-da-dum, his heart raced to the beat of the music and the two moved to the steps of a tango. No matter where Cashew swiped, slashed, lunged and jabbed, his knife always missed and instead his body was spinner or swung around by Monsuta, like a puppet on strings, deeming him totally helpless.

Finally, the music stopped and did not continue for the rest of the night. Sasha and Alphy had quickly come down to say goodnight before turning into their usual cat forms and falling asleep somewhere in a corner upstairs. Meanwhile, Monsuta and Cashew were too exhausted to even move a muscle, which resulted in them crashing and falling asleep on the living room couch.

“I’ll get you tomorrow, you lucky monster.” Cashew grumbled, yawned, then fell into a deep slumber.


	8. Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monsuta and Cashew visit the London zoo together to get some ‘fresh’ air.

“So what is a zoo again?”

Cashew and Monsuta were making their way down the streets of London towards a place Monsuta had called a zoo.

“For the last time, it’s a place where a bunch of different animals from around the world have been collected for people to look at.”

At that same moment, Monsuta motioned to the right, announcing that they had arrived, making Cashews eyes widen at seeing a giant, golden gate. It took all of Monsuta’s convincing skills to force Cashew into waiting behind a line of people who later got ‘swallowed up’ by the golden teeth at the end.

“How many tickets?” An unknown lady sitting in a box by the golden teeth asked the two men.

“Two adult tickets” Monsuta casually replied.

“You sure you don’t mean one child and one adult?” Cashew scoffed, but the other was too busy trying to figure out how much he owed the lady to answer back.

With nothing to do but wait, Cashews mind briefly drifted to the events of this morning, the day after he found out Monsuta was the actual murderer of his parents. He had woken up before Monsuta and was still stunned by what he had found out. He spent the next hour blankly staring at the blonde, as if in a coma, unable to act or think as the seconds slowly passed by. Eventually he got up and out from the sofa, still unaware of wether he was asleep or awake, and made his way to his satchel. He slowly took out a match box and a metal can and walked to the centre of the room where he had tried to kill Monsuta many times before. Eyes unfocused, he clumsily opened the can and tipped it upside down, but nothing came out. Turns out there was a hole on the other side that made the gasoline from inside leak out and dry up before it had a chance to be used. Silently, Cashew crouched down and took out a match from its cardboard house. Not noticing the disappearance of the gasoline, he proceeded to scratch the end of the match onto the floor. More time passed as Cashew sat there pathetically scraping at the wood before Monsuta had woken up. We should go get some fresh air, he had said, maybe you will get a fresh idea on solving the problem you have in your mind.

“Cashew hurry up!” Monsuta shouted from somewhere in front of him.

Catching a glance of the blondes hair, Cashew awkwardly caught up through squealing through the golden teeth of the gate. The only reason he was willing to be here was for the sole reason of finding new ideas of killing Monsuta.

“Let’s see...” Cashew looked over to expect Monsuta once again annoyingly reading one of his books, yet instead found a large, fold-out map of what seemed to be the ‘zoo’ that they were currently in. “It looks like we can follow this general path around the park and be able to see all the animals.”

“Are all of the animals in these little boxes? And how are you sure they haven’t walked off to another area?” Cashew couldn’t help but doubt this map as it would be impossible to keep track of where each and every animal would go.

“No, stupid! They are all fenced inside so that they are not dangerous to themselves or to the people and other animals around here.”

This only made Cashew look more confused, to witch Monsuta shook his head and instead he started to walk by the route he had already planned.

“Honestly, I also thought it was weird when I first came here, but once you see the beauty of each exhibit, you kind of forget how weird this world is and instead just accept it. Oh look, we’re already approaching the first exhibit of the Savannah section!”

Monsuta excitedly ran up some stairs towards a large fence and intently looked inside. Following closely behind, Cashews mouth dropped as a scene of colourful animals of all sorts of shapes and colours bloomed before him. His eyes took in the view of a large pen holding some sort of stripy horse creatures, bright pink birds, dogs with terrifyingly large twigs coming out of their heads and grey giants with tails for noses and humongous plates for ears. Cashew felt a shiver as a shadow abruptly swallowed him up and, glancing up, he saw a strange, four legged, spotty animal suddenly loom before him with its frighteningly stretched out legs and neck. It’s head had a pair of little horns and two beady, black eyes with long eyelashes. At the appearance of Cashew, it bowed its head over the fence and suddenly licked him with an alien-like, purple tongue. Shocked and scarred for life, Cashew rigidly stood there and could only stare up at the creature.

“It seems to have taken a liking to you,” It was Monsuta’s annoying laughter that brought Cashew back to earth, making him angrily spin around and stomp his way towards the other.

“What sort of freak show have you brought me to?” he managed to spit out.

“What? Have you never seen a giraffe before?” Monsuta continued to laugh and instead of helping his, clearly, scared friend, he ripped up a bunch of grass that was growing not far from where the two were standing, and placed it into Cashews arm.

“What do you think your doing?”

”It’s okay, all of the animals in here are herbivores. None of them would hurt or eat us on purpose, especially if we act calm and nice to them, so don’t worry and give the giraffe the grass! Look, he’s already drooling over what you’ve got there.”

“Why don’t you do it then?”

Monsuta shrugged and tried to approach the giraffe, who immediately huffed and drew back its head. “See, I don’t know why, but animals don’t seem to like me.”

“Oh yeah? How come your cats stay by your side then?”

“First of all,” Monsuta made his way back to where Cashew was standing, a playful look in his eyes, “they aren’t exactly cats, nor do they stay with me all the time. They are actually the only ‘animals’ that have stayed around me for this long because they were a gift from my parents.”

His look changed in mood and a cloud briefly cast a shadow over the park, sending a chill down Cashews back.

“When they died, my mother had felt bad for leaving me alone and it was her two tears from the skies above that forced those two companions to stay by my side.”

Lost for words, Cashew looked back at the giraffe and upon making eye contact with it, slumped knowing he had no more options. (It seems we are not too different, you and I. Of course, My loss is far greater since I have to waste my life living by the person who murdered my parents, but for this one moment, I will do as you say.) He shakily stretched out his arm, to which the giraffe happily bowed down and swept up the clump in one, swift lick, leaving Cashew to just stare with a disgusted expression on his face, to which Monsuta, of course, took the opportunity to laugh at.

“If you look over there, those are called zebras, and over there are elephants. They all come from the Savannah’s of Africa, which I learned from a great magazine by this nature company...”

Monsuta’s usual joy returned and the cloud had passed when he started describing all the different animals that could be found in this area. Nevertheless, through high concentration and through the use of the knowledge he had gathered while living with the man, Cashew noticed a glint of something uneasy in his eyes, different to the topic that they were previously talking about. Immediately, Cashew had an urge to find out what made the other uncomfortable and dig it up in his face.

“That’s amazing, now I can see all of these truly outstanding creatures up close inside these cages” he forced a smile to appear on his face as he swished his hand behind his back to throw off any of the lingering spit that the giraffe had left. With growing satisfaction, Cashew saw how the look of unease deepened on Monsuta’s face, realising he had hit bulls eye.

“Well, sure it is, but the people who run this place basically steal the animals from their home and put them into these cages for the sole purpose of peoples entertainment.”

“At least they can stay with their family here in safety and never worry about a predator or enemy coming to eat them!”

Cashew was surprised then to find that he was actually getting more emerged into the conversation than he had originally planned. Monsuta let out a small laugh, but decided to continue the debate as they walked round the herbivore exhibit.

“Personally, I would rather be alone and experience life in the wild than in here; must be a lot more exhilarating to live out there than in here, don’t you think? Just imagine, feeling the blood thump in your ears as you run for miles on end, no fence to keep you in and no people around to keep you in check.”

“Yeah sure, and then you run right into a pack of lions and before you know it, your a goner!”

Just at that moment, a loud roar was heard further down the path that they were on and, looking to the side, Cashew read a sign saying ‘Big cats’.

“Were going to see some kitty cats? Like Sasha and Alphy?”

“No... big. Cats.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“I must admit, I agree with some of what you’re saying, but this is still a sorry life for one of the greatest creatures on this planet.”

The two men were currently standing in front of an old, metal fence that ran around a large pit. Inside they saw two large lionesses sprawled on a patch of sunlight, not far from a large, jutting boulder. Their tails flicked lazily from side to side and every once in a while they flicked their ears from a fly or two.

“Yeah but look, they get to enjoy everyday with each other under the sunshine and with a full belly. If anything, that sounds like the perfect life!”

“Despite the fact that your permanent home is inside this pit with people constantly looking at you?”

“Why not? There’s enough hiding places for privacy and I’d never get sick or hungry.”

At the exact moment that Monster was speaking, a large, golden lion with magnificent, shimmering mane emerged from the shadows of some bushes and leaped up onto the rock between the Lionesses. An deafening roar echoed across the whole zoo as both Cashew and Monsuta stared in awe and amazement.

“Well I think that in order to experience full joy you must have some downfalls in your life... spending it in here would turn every experience in to the same memory.”

Cashew slowly looked over to the blonde, who was mesmerised by the king bellow. (How dare he say that? I thought we were a little similar through the pain we felt of losing our parents, but of course, mine were murdered! How can I experience joy after knowing such a thought?)

“So..” Cashew turned his gaze back towards the lion, who had sat down and was licking his mane, “This ‘lion’ is quite a dangerous animal if he is kept so far away from people, right?”

“”Hm? Oh yes, he is known as the ‘king of the jungle’, despite this one being taken from the grasslands of Africa. Either way, he’s still one of the most deadly- waah!”

Cashew could listen no longer to this guy and ended up pushing him over the edge of the fence and into the pit below. (This is finally a full proof plan! I’ve heard all I need to hear, the most deadly animals on the planet surround Monsuta with no means of escape and no help will come before he makes it out alive.) Cashew excitedly leaned over the fence and watched as Monsuta tumbled down the steep slope and into the pit. With a loud thud, he landed on a pile of dried leaves that normally served as one of the lounging spots for the big cats and a wave of shocked exclamations was heard from the people around. Cashew was momentarily worried that someone from the crowd would call for help, but to his great surprise, they all took out their phones and started pointing it at him. (Must be that weird magic that Monsuta took photos with. Never mind, it seems my plan is going to work, and now with more time to spare!) All three of the lions ears perked up with interest while Monsuta groaned and slowly pushed himself up and off the leaves. Cashew watched as Monsuta scratched his head and looked up, back at him as if to say something, but immediately turned his head towards the direction of the lions, in which the male had gotten up and was now slowly making his way towards the blonde. Every one watching held their breaths, unsure of what was going to happen next, including Monsuta who just seemingly continued to stand where he was. Eventually the lion approached so closely, that his nose was Practically touching the man, and then after another, quieter, roar, simply licked the others hand and made his way back towards the lionesses. Cashew stared with disbelief at what had just happened as Monsuta looked up at him and gave him two thumbs up. A round of applause exploded from the viewers around, with which Monsuta bowed and followed the lion into the patch of sun. The lionesses moved warily away from him and then all four of them settled down to sleep until a member of staff surprisedly climbed down to rescue him.

“You are the luckiest man on this planet...” Cashew whispered while defeatedly sliding down towards the floor and clenching his fists in defeat.


	9. Piranha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the boys going around the London Zoo... oh and it’s in sea world!

“Who is responsible for this man?” An irritated voice of a female zoo staff member could be heard.

“Cashew! Please convince her to let me stay with the lions longer!!” Right next to the staff member, Monsuta was fake-sobbing and being pathetically dragged out of the lion exhibit like a sad sack of potatoes. With an enormous sigh, Cashew forced himself to get up and walked over to the tantrum zone and apologetically took Monsuta out of the hands of the zookeeper.

“I’m so sorry that you had to deal with this, still alive, man. We won’t cause any further problems...”

The woman simply looked over the two men and gave a curt nod before disappearing back into the lion exhibit. Now alone, Monsuta got up with a pout on his face and brushed himself off.

“I can’t believe she took me away from my friends back there, how dare she? I was even beginning to drowse off.”

“Are you crazy? Weren’t you the one who said that it would be such a pain to sleep when so many people were watching? And didn’t you mention something about how all animals hated you? What’s this sudden relationship about??”

“Oh my, so many questions that we might as well start walking towards the next exhibit... Anyway, yes, as far as I knew, all animals hated me because people of my family bloodline give out a very unnerving aura around us. Don’t ask. Of course, it goes without saying that this destines me to a life of loneliness, as I get constant looks of unease and fear, but that’s only the more reason why I am happy to have you and the cats next to me. You see, this... “disease” affects animals and babies more than humans, in fact it highly distresses them, but nevertheless people feel uncomfortable around me anyway. You yourself must have felt how the hairs on your body stood up suddenly whenever I approached you, correct?”

It was true, Cashew realised. He had always felt some darkness and a hint of danger whenever he was close to Monsuta, yet his thirst for revenge had pushed away his instincts of running away. And now he was used to being around the man, so this unease had become a secondary feeling to him.

“Now, as for the lion, it seems his inner power and authority over his territory was large enough to tolerate me. I’m still not entirely sure, since I had never met a predator as great as that before, but after he accepted me as an equal and with possible admiration, his lionesses went along with it and we ended up together in the sunshine!” Monsuta’s white eyes (that once again showed signs of black pigment within them) glinted with a pure happiness that Cashew had not seen in a while. No longer willing to figure out what sort of nonsense had just occurred, he decided to just accept the situation and instead Cashew looked around to see what they were going to see next.

A magnificent, blue building was beginning to rise in the distance, with large letters spelling out “SEA WORLD” plastered above the entrance. (What on earth is that? Are we really going into a building to see some fish? Like a weekend market selling goods from the coast?). A laugh from beside Cashew brought him out of his trance, looking over to see Monsuta giggling beside him.

“What?”

“I can see the look of disappointment on your face and to be honest, it’s hilarious!” Dodging a punch from Cashew, Monsuta just laughed even harder.

“Hey, don’t be like that! I assure you that the inside of that building is a lot more interesting than you think.”

Entering through two large, sliding doors, Monsuta was proven right when they were met with a painting of various sea creatures swimming around in a large tank the size of half the building it self. Cashew nearly had to be pushed through the path in order to not block the people behind them, since the man was over-struck with awe. They went under an arch in the tank where they became surrounded by various tropical fish of neon colours, seeing sting rays with smiling faces, sharks of various sizes, and even jellyfish with different patterns and tentacles. As they made their way through various tanks containing different animals, Cashew couldn’t help but remember their previous chat and would notice how whenever Monsuta childishly ran up to the glass, the sea animals quickly darted away and hid from him.

“You know you are a very lucky man” Cashew confessed as they found a great view to watch the fish tank from a bench not far away. Everyone’s face in the building was illuminated with a blue light, and the steady sound of splashing and bubbles made the mood feel extremely dreamy. Time became slowed.

“In what way?” This sudden remark had faintly surprised Monsuta.

“You are simply a lucky man.” Cashew was referencing all the times Monsuta had survived his threats and attempts to kill him, but of course, he knew that in truth the other was not.

“I think your impression of me is flawed.” They sat in silence for a while, letting the sound of bubbles and splashed once again fill their ears. Eventually, Monsuta decided to pop this bubble.

“I may not agree with you on a lot of things, but you know, after giving it some thought I think I can agree with you that animals could feel happier inside this place than in the wild.”

“What?”

“Well, after spending some time with those lions, I just thought how nice it actually is to relax next to someone and feel safe from danger.”

“That is extremely ironic considering you were ‘relaxing’ next to a pack of one of the world’s most dangerous hunters!” Cashew scoffed. For some reason, although the other was currently agreeing to the point he had made earlier, it felt annoying and Cashew was growing a strong sense to argue back.

“Well think about it, there’s also the danger of hunters trying to kill you, and the fact that it’s creatures with larger brains and guns roaming around proves that it’s simply better to be sent into a zoo and live happily with those you love.”

(Oh I see what’s going on) Cashew annoyedly thought to himself, (he’s s trying to get me to agree with him. Well that will never happen, just you wait and see!) Having these thoughts in mind, Cashew began straining every last nook and cranny of his brain in order to find anything to say against Monsuta.

“Hunting is just part of the food chain. People, like animals, hunt others in order to eat and survive... it’s not like they have a choice, they must hunt other wise they could die.”

“Well surely in this day and age, we humans don’t need to eat animals as there are lots of agricultural services out there. And in no way are guns and specialised gear natural, it’s obviously a disadvantage for the ones being hunted?”

Despite both sides not fully believing what they were arguing for, something deep inside them started to change, fuelling more and more adrenaline and ambition into their speeches.

“Well we are omnivores for a reason, nothing natural about eating stir-fry, is there? And some can’t just grow crops in a snowy or deserted area. We are part of the food chain, and there’s no justification needed for such a primal activity.”

“Yes except there’s a whole pocket full of hunting for sport and animals are going extinct left and right!”

The two men were now off the bench and had begun to briskly make their way through the rest of Sea World. Fish and other creatures blurred by them and so did their meaningless arguments. Eventually, they entered the final hall of the building, a room which was completely black except for the shimmering, illuminated scales of the strange fish swimming here. This place contained the final collection of the weirdest and rarest creatures, silencing the two men with a fresh wave of awe.

“Hey why are we even arguing about this?”

Cashew looked over to where Monsuta was standing. The other seemed to be looking at him, but at the same time it was as if his eyes went through Cashews body.

“I think it’s safe to say that we both care about our original points, but don’t mind the other’s as well. Lets accept our differences and not make a big deal out of this. After all,” Monsuta’s eyes went back into focus as his momentum gained speed once again, “we would become much greater individuals if only we shared our ideaw and saw the world in a new light!”

Sadly for Monsuta, Cashew had ended up not listening to a single word of his inspirational speech, instead his eyes drifted to a sign placed directly behind the blonde, reading: ‘danger, Piranhas are the most fearsome animals alive and a single touch to the water can leave you immediately fingerless!’ Doing some sort of weird shoe-lace-tying action, Cashew gathered all of his spiritual and physical power within himself, and leaned foreword so intensely, that he head-butted Monsuta’s chest as forcefully as he could. The other, more from surprise rather than power, lost his balance and for the second time that day, fell into an exhibit of a deadly predators.

A loud splash was heard, and a shout from Monsuta’s voice. Cashew on the other hand, took his sweet time of savouring the other’s sufferings and, without looking up, proceeded to calmly untie, and retie his shoelace. Yet upon looking up, his eyes met with the displeasing view of Monsuta standing before him, all drenched, and with all limbs still intact. Cashews mouth dropped and he once again slumped down to the ground.

“Wow, that water was cold... and it seems that the piranhas aren’t as brave as that lion was...” Monsuta slumped down to the floor next to Cashew with a dejected sigh. Getting out a soaked book from his pocket, Monsuta began flipping through some pages until he got to a specific section with a drawing of some sort of jaw bone, and proceeded to read it.

“Piranhas’ bad reputation is at least partially Teddy Roosevelt’s fault. When Theodore Roosevelt journeyed to South America in 1913, he encountered, among other exotic creatures, several different species of piranha. Writing about a bloodthirsty fish sells for a lot more than that of a small encounter with a little bite from the thing.. bla, bla, bla... The fact is, hungry piranha will bite almost anything, even other piranhas. However, piranha normally feasts on other species of fish or wounded animals - not humans. In fact, more piranhas are eaten by people then people are eaten by piranhas. Oh and did I forget to mention, that all animals are scared of me?”


	10. Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nightmare comes again... and more vividly this time

Once again, he found himself in a dark and stuffy room. It was cold and he couldn’t feel the tips of his fingers and toes. This feeling of numbing was spreading to the center of his body, yet nothing he did could stop it. A few moments passed before a red glow lit up the space around him. His eyes followed towards the source of the light, suddenly striking a face of disgust as he saw, with disbelief, dead bodies piled up on the floor. He exclaimed sharply, unable to produce a sound and noticing that the air around him took the aroma of a butchers shop. His body seemed to be possessed, as if controlled like a puppet, stings running through his bones, forcing him to look into the mass of death. He saw that where there had once been smooth skin, was now torn muscle and blood. Limbs were scattered and lay in unnatural angles and he could see the white glint of bones sticking out of the most bizarre of places. The crimson-sprayed walls were alive and still dripping from the fresh wave of blood, and it was only after seeing them in detail did he feel something warm on his hands. Lifting them up for a closer inspection, he saw, with a sickening feeling rising up in his throat, that they were dark red, blood slowly oozing off of the tips of his fingers. His heart momentarily forgot to beat, and he jumped back from shock and horror, adrenaline finally powering up and pulsating through his body. A shrill screech was heard from somewhere amidst the pile, and he saw that the seemingly dead bodies were still horrifically alive. Slowly, they all came into action and turned their heads to look at him.

“No...” his horror peaked as he realised that he could recognise each and every one of the faces.

At this realisation, the pile started to spasm and unwind, with various hands and legs suddenly sticking out and dragging whatever was attached out of the mass and towards him.

“Please, stop...” the more he pleaded the louder their wailing and shrieks could be heard. He noticed an uncomfortable moistness. He looked down and saw his body was surrounded by a thick, black fluid which was slowly filling the room, and saw his face reflected within. His eyes were scribbled black and his mouth was creepily stretched out into an unnerving smile that went from ear to ear. He frantically tried to stand up but slipped and with a splash, fell into the gloppy mush. As the liquid reached his knees, he tried once again to get up but instead, some sort of half-decomposed arm grabbed him by the foot and he was once again sent into the darkness of his fears. The substance seeped into his eyes and mouth, stinging and filling his lungs, forcing him to be unable to breathe.

“Please stop...” he tried to choke out, instead only taking another mouthful of everything and nothing at once. Eyesight fading, his body finally gave up fighting.

Monsuta lurched out of his bed and painfully landed on the floor. He was sweating immensely and couldn’t stop coughing, fighting to get air back into his lungs. The darkness around him had him under the illusion that he was still inside the nightmare of his sleep, still drowning in the mass of limbs and blood. Finally, something from behind him lit up and the warm glow of light eventually restored him to his former, calm self. Looking back, he made out the figure of Cashew, who was holding a lit up candle and was staring at him with wide eyes.

“Your alive, right?” He nervously whispered.

It took Monsuta a couple more moments before he managed to make out any signs of agreement, still adjusting to real life.

“Yeah... I think so.”

“Well good. Great. You were writhing frantically around and even shouting randomly, I couldn’t get a wink of sleep!” Cashew got up and started to walk back to his bed.

“Wait,” Monsuta panicky pushed himself off the floor, momentarily grabbing onto Cashew’s shirt.

“Don’t blow out that candle, please. Come down stairs and get a drink with me.”

Cashew irritatedly sighed, but nonetheless decided to follow the blonde downstairs. Monsuta had made some tea that was infused with the most amazing smells, those which Cashew had never smelt or heard of before.

“What is this?” He couldn’t help but ask with suspicion as Monsuta handed him the warm mug and sat down not far from him on the same couch.

“This tea is made from a rare flower grown in India. That land is extremely far and exotic, so it is additionally infused with the biting scents of spices, salty smells of the ocean and it has absorbed the air of all the countries it has passed in order for me to buy it in England. And now it has also passed through two different dimensions, which probably makes this the most expensive tea you have ever tasted!”

(Wow, he’s talking a lot today about such useless things.) Cashew decided he could let himself take a sip after seeing Monsuta had, and immediately he was overwhelmed with a soothing energy that spread through every nerve and vessel. It seems the same thing happened to Monsuta, because the other relaxed and his pupils dilated back to normal for the first time since he had woken up. He was actually enjoying the silence and was nearly falling asleep until he saw in the corner of his eye that Monsuta was opening a book with the title of ‘Mirrors’ on it, and irritation once again made its way back into Cashew’s system. (I would rather die than hear a whole speech on mirrors, no way would I let him read this to me!)

“Hey, what were you dreaming about?” He really didn’t care about the answer, but figured, according to his previous observations, that this topic would be most affective in stopping the blonde from reading. It took a few moments before he replied, but the conversation that followed made Cashew regret agreeing to coming downstairs at all.

“Tell me about yourself... I don’t really know much about you.” Cashew was thrown off by Monsuta’s sudden question, but upon steeling a quick look towards the other he saw that his eyes were closed, face stuck in a pained expression and his posture was hunched over. Cashew got a feeling that no matter what he replied it would get the other to talk, but he nevertheless replied truthfully for some reason. It was probably that damn tea.

“I was adopted... my parents were killed in a horrific accident when I was very young.” Well, mostly truthful. Cashew couldn’t explain any of his actions at the moment. “Merl found me on the night after hearing the racket and ever since then, he and Sherley have been amazing people who decided to adopt me and look after me. I’m extremely grateful.” His own face took a pained expression, to which Monsuta seemed to sense and slowly looked over.

“I think you should leave.” Surprised, Cashew looked into Monsuta’s half white, half black eyes.

“What on earth -“

“Listen, Cashew, I am a bad person. I hired you to stay here with me purely for my own selfish reasons. I wanted you to make this place a lot cleaner and livelier, filling my lonely void simply because you do not smell like the other people. Everyone is terrified when they come near me, and when they are scared they emit a stronger smell of blood that drives me absolutely ballistic. It’s like torture and I hate it. But you did not... I took advantage of that despite knowing I could never repent for my dark past. I thought maybe if I act happy for the people who died then it’s possible my life would be worth it! But they just look angrier than ever before.”

“Are you listening to yourself right now?”

“The dream I had tonight simply reminded me to snap out of it and remember my sins. Therefore, I wish for you to leave. Please do it for -“

“Hey!” Cashew threw the cup aggressively onto the wall and stood up in front of Monsuta, “I hate your guts, that’s true, but don’t think you can just order me to leave so suddenly. I put too much effort into my garden and putting up with your face for you to just destroy all that. No matter how bad or evil you are, I don’t really care. Don’t you even think of dying somewhere alone in a ditch, because I’m going to stick myself to you so much, your gonna feel like your repenting for your sins just by putting up with me! Only I can kill you. Only I deserve to kill you. Don’t you forget that.” Slightly out of breath from shouting all that out, Cashew held Monsuta’s gaze for a few tense moments.

“You don’t understand,” Monsuta’s eyes seemed to sink back into his face and it was apparent it took a lot of effort to stay sitting up, knowing that the truth is out, “I have killed a lot of people in my past.”

“I know.”

“No listen, you don’t want to be next to someone like me, I’m dangerous.”

“I know.”

“The more time you waste here, the more chance of.. huh? Wait, what did you just say?” Monsuta’s face broke into confusion, at the realisation of what the other had just said. Cashew had his hair thrown in front of his eyes and it cast a shadow over his face which made his expression unreadable.

“I said I know.” With that, Cashew turned away from the blonde and made his way upstairs.

Monsuta was frozen to the spot and had no idea how to react nor behave. He was as still as a lake of which not the slightest breeze nor creature had stirred. His eyes were locked on the spot where Cashew’s mug had crashed into and he watched as the tea slowly dropped down the bricks. A sudden flash of the blood sprayed walls of his nightmare made him snap out of his trance and he leaned back with a loud and painful sigh. Slowly, he placed his own mug onto the floor and rubbed his palms over the temples of his forehead.

“At least he didn’t try to kill me with my own mug this time.”

He tried making himself laugh.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

It was dark and Monsuta had just fallen asleep. The two men had come back from the London Zoo just moments before, but it seems that all the walking and arguing from their day had exhausted Monsuta to the point that he had passed out the second he touched his bed sheets. Cashew was extremely tired himself, but he could not pass up such an opportunity. Creeping quietly over to his satchel, Cashew took out the same little bottle he had used to poison Monsuta’s drink a few weeks ago. (This time I’ll get you!)

Cashew had noticed that there was some sudden development between him and Monsuta, feeling that despite hating the other man with all of his heart and being two completely opposite people, they somehow clicked. Realising this fact was extremely irritating for Cashew, but nevertheless he had to admit that it was true. (I wonder if he ever feels bad for killing my parents... does he ever even think about them?) Of course, he would never say these thoughts to anyone, ever, and even now he was building up annoyance the more he thought about it. (Of course he wouldn’t think about them, I mean, look at how happy he always acts!)

He creeped back into the bedroom and made his way to the blonde’s bed. He gave the other a light prod to the stomach, to which was replied with motionless snores. Unable to contain his excitement, Cashew had to physically pinch himself in order to get back to business.

He slowly unscrewed the lid to the bottle and hovered his hand above Monsuta’s mouth. (Thanks for being a great host, but I think your time on this world is over!) just as he was about to drop the poison into the man’s mouth, the other gave a sudden jerk and flipped himself onto his side. (What is this?) Cashew annoyedly thought to himself, but nevertheless he quietly made his way to the other side of the bed and tried again. Hovering his hand over the sleeping man’s mouth, he started to turn his hand to drop the liquid in when Monsuta once again gave a jolt and threw himself to the other side. Confused and annoyed, Cashew continued this activity to the point where Monsuta would move every few seconds, at which point Cashew finally gave up. He was once even slapped in the face and kicked in the shin from how sudden the other’s movements were. (Is this guy having a nightmare or what??)

He closed the lid with disbelief and was about to go sleep, telling himself he’ll try again tomorrow, when he heard a sudden thump on the floor. Lighting a candle, he saw that Monsuta was sweating excessively and panting. Cashew quickly shoved the bottle of poison into his pocket and he had forgotten all about his plan to kill the other man when the two made eye contact.


	11. Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monsuta and Cashew only have more and more questions that go unanswered, and the moon is ever more present in their lives.

(Books are so intrinsically fascinating - they easily jump past any hierarchy. So wonderful and mysterious are they, that they can hold their own, dominate and vanquish any wonder of the world. “Books are the compasses, telescopes, sextants and charts which other men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life.” To be able to hold so many ideas, so much information and so much power using mere ink and paper, brings anything in comparison crashing down to rock bottom. They are masters of time, wasting away the seconds as you read, going on journeys inside the realms of your mind, holding entire worlds, both created and destroyed simultaneously as the metal hands of the clock tick swiftly away. They inject feelings and new thoughts that would never have been thought of, ideas that are being passed down from paper to paper, book to book, person to person. They are like a lighthouse in the oceans of time. The knowledge gained from these extracts can shape any blank person, for the better or for worse, like an ancient palimpsest, being added to with every generation, changed but nevertheless wielding the primal works which were first engraved. Each and every one is still connected with the deepest emotions of the author, a fusion of the soul using a contract with no deadline. The infinite pages of humankind’s intellect can be dangerous, but can also be tranquil. A gateway to open up individuals minds and hearts, powerful enough to insinuate even the most darkened of hearts; able to change heroes to monsters, and monsters to heroes.

I really wish I had a book to distract me now.)

It was one o’clock at night, the weather outside was storming viciously and rain was colliding forcefully onto the window. Despite the shrill whistle of the wind and the banging and creaking of wood on wood, the two men had somehow managed to fall asleep anyway. Rather, they where both fast asleep until a few moments ago, when some unknown demonic force had suddenly possessed Monsuta and he was instantly woken up. His vision blurred, stinging and tainted red; each muscle seemed to move on its own, going against him on purpose.

Monsuta had felt a sensation as painful as this before, where his senses where infinitely more awake, and where a hunger in his belly was that of a black hole. The demon in his body had a primal urge to kill, but never before was it this bad. This powerful. He had felt this sensation a couple of times before when he had been alone, previously able to control his thirst for death, but this time he could hear the blood pulsing uncontrollably through his ears, the drumming making his head hazy and unclear. It was so long since he had last felt this urge that he nearly forgot how to control it. The addition of Cashew, a living, breathing body being in the same room as him, meant that his symptoms were only the more severe. He would strain his head with every step in order to try regain even a little bit of control, but no matter how much he mentally screamed at his muscles, they wouldn’t stop creeping closer... and closer towards the slumbering Cashew. Every second that passed made it harder for Monsuta to breathe, to see, to stay sane. Soon enough, his thoughts changed into despair at his lack of control, thinking (this is it, my impotence and weakness will once again get the better of me, and my sins will grow deeper!) Cashew’s fragile body was mere millimetres away from Monsuta’s mutated hands and face, where his fingers had grown out and his nails had morphed into ten monstrous, long, sharp claws. His face was almost wolf-like, with fangs for teeth and eyes as sharp as a spear. Any second now Monsuta would lose control, as a last whiff of Cashews sweet blood would send him into complete insanity. The last of his will would melt away, like wax that’s too close to a fire, and his body would be fully possessed by the devil. He could kill the raven-haired man in an instant.

“What on earth are you doing?” Cashew’s sudden, grumpy voice sounded in the dark, immediately snapping Monsuta’s consciousness back into its place and forcing his alien bodily dysfunctions to go into their normal forms. The other shifted in his bed and lit up a candle, where the two men then stared at each other cautiously for a few long moments.

“Another nightmare? You were breathing so loudly it was inevitable that I woke up.” Cashew placed the candle on the side table by his bed and gave a long, exaggerated yawn.

“Something like that..” Monsuta mumbled. His head continued to spin and his muscles were still painful, but he had regained control and ended managed to flop back down onto his bed. The awkward silence continued and the only sound that could be heard was the banging of wind on windows.

“Uhm, do you like bananas?”

More awkward silence followed this question, but it was apparent that this time it was due to the obscurity of the situation rather than the previous unease. Averting his eyes, Monsuta had just asked the first thing that came to his mind, and now he was regretting starting to talk at all.

“Oh sorry, you see it’s just that I’m thinking if I should order a batch in London- oh right, that must mean you don’t know what they even are! They are yellow and moon shaped, my favourite fruit only because they smell quite sweet, although the taste is as indistinct as any other food. Of course, we don’t have them in this land... oh my bad for talking so much about such a useless topic. Actually, I think I’ll just go back to sleep-“

“No it’s fine, I guess. I’ll look foreword to seeing the bananas.” Cashew murmured, still intently staring at Monsuta.

“Is... is there something on my face?”

“No,I was just wondering why your eyes are half black and half white right now.”

Monsuta gave an uneasy laugh, “What are you saying? They have always been like this...”

“Oh no you don’t, I won’t allow you to talk yourself out of this one!” Cashew took on a more serious and determined posture and attitude, telling Monsuta that he had no chance of escape. “why is it that, when I look at your eyes every few weeks or even months, they are always different? Fully black, white, half and half, or... red.”

Monsuta gave a heavy sigh and gave himself a few moments to muster up his strength before he answered.

“You are correct. I only go into town when my eyes are fully black, so, it’s no surprise that you question my eyes, as anyone who spends this much time around me would. As you already know, from Sasha and Alphy, there is magic in this world. Similar to my cats, I have magic surging through my blood, as do the descendants of my family. In truth, this might be shocking but, I am not of the human species.” Monsuta gave a brief pause for this to sink in, then proceeded to answer the question. “ The change that I posses in my eyes is actually a characteristic that we have developed so that we can keep track of the moon. The shape and colour of our iris correlates exactly to that of the shadows on the moon and its cycles, but sometimes they turn red. The red overtakes as a dominant colour on the full moon every 10 years. Our eyes start to flash a few nights before as a sort of warning beacon and we start to get some strong... urges before and especially during the event. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about anything, your life is not in danger. My control over this dark force is absolute and you may even sleep downstairs or back at Sherley and Merl’s house if that would make you feel more secure.” Monsuta looked up with a reassuring expression, but through his enthusiastic and desperate speech, he failed to notice that Cashew had fallen back onto his bed and his eyes were already shut closed. Monsuta sat thinking for a while more, thoughts of what had commenced at one o’clock and even from the past few days filling his mind. (Wait a second.... why had I lost that much control? It’s never been that bad before?) One reason, Monsuta thought, could be because it had been twenty years since he last tasted ‘it’, but that seemed unlikely to cause such a high effect. (If that were the reason, I wouldn’t loose control to this extent, rather I’d just feel weak...) Then Monsuta remembered how he had, for the first time since meeting him, smelt Cashew’s blood! (How is this possible? I mean, that is most definitely the reason for my loss of will power, but I cannot smell it anymore... why? And my brain still won’t forget of the time he said he knew I was a killer... what on earth does that mean?) He scratched his head from overwhelming confusion, knowing that the longer he stayed sitting up the more questions he accumulated, and eventually decided to put the awkwardness of the night to the back of his mind. (Answers will come with time), blowing out the candle, he went back to sleep.

Unknown to the other, both had failed to doze off before morning.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Hey, so in the end, what species are you?” Cashew had been wondering about this question since their last conversation, among a lot of other things. It was the early morning when Monsuta had gone and come back from London with a huge crate of bananas. He placed them in the kitchen and went to lie down on the living room couch, immediately diving into yet another book. Meanwhile, Cashew was standing in the kitchen and was closely examining the strange, yellow fruit that were now lying on the counter.

“Did you know that the moon cycle in this dimension in six times longer than that of London’s dimension?” Monsuta cried out suddenly, “It’s also very hot during the day and extremely cold at night. More specifically, temperature of the surface of the moon in the day is 107 degrees Celsius but at night it’s minus 153 degrees Celsius. The phases of the moon are New Moon, Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing, Gibbous, Full moon, Waning Gibbous, last quarter...”

Cashew decided to ignore Monsuta’s useless knowledge and instead proceeded to wander of what species he was, a more recent question he had floating in his mind. (What do I even know about him?) Picking up a banana, he gave it an inquisitive smell and, deciding he enjoyed the scent, took a massive bight out of the top. Immediately he scrunched up his face in disgust and spat out whatever in the world he had eaten. (Is it actually possible for something that smells so nice, taste worse than Monsuta’s cooking?)

“Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that you should peel the banana before eating it!” Monsuta shouted out again from across the room, laughter clearly evident in his voice, “now where was I... oh yes, although research is still continuing, most scientists have agreed that the moon contains small amounts of water...”

“Now you tell me?” Cashew grumbled under his breath, but nevertheless took the blonde’s advice and started to peel the banana. (That’s right, he doesn’t know how to cook, nor can he differentiate between taste... he also mentioned something about smelling people... and he likes to carry a spoon, my family’s spoon at that, in his mouth for some sort of twisted repentance...) frustrated, Cashew realised he only gave himself more questions than answers, and aggressively ate the peeled banana in his hand. (Is he some sort of pervert or something?? He is such a weird guy, and oh my - this actually tastes quite good.)

Taking a closer look at the banana, Cashew was impressed by the contrast it possessed. To be so disgusting and misleading on the surface, it was in fact sweet and soft on the inside. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind, so great did he think it was, immediately he forgot all about his thoughts and worries. He took to implementing his plan without a second to loose, starting from cutting the tips of some bananas into long triangles and putting them into the freezer, collecting a pile of banana peels in a bowl, and replacing the inside of bananas with tiny pebbles and rocks, and then stitching them up and stuffing them into his satchel. Although this looked extremely strange, Monsuta had no knowledge of any of what was happening in the kitchen due to him innocently reading his Moon book. Finally, at around eleven o’clock in the morning, Monsuta got up and went outside, still reading, to which Cashew secretly followed with a ready set of banana weapon.

(I’m going to closely keep my eye on him for today, and find out more clues about what species he is whilst also getting more chances to kill him with his favourite fruit! I’ll be killing two birds with one stone!)

The sun was already high up in the sky by the time the two men had gone outside, and for once there were no clouds to be seen. This let for dry wind and hot sun rays to cover the land, not even a single bird had felt like flying in the sky. It seemed as though Monsuta was going to go through the garden pathway first, so Cashew hastily made his way round some bushes and hid in the shadows, ready to strike as the blonde would pass by. He held a sharpened, frozen banana in a ready-to-stab position, but after a few moments, no footsteps came and he was beginning to worry that the blonde had taken a different path after all, or had gone back completely.

“Isn’t your banana-lolly going to melt if you keep staring at it like that?” A sudden voice from behind Cashew made him nearly jump out of his skin. Monsuta had creeped up in the shadows, and was now munching on one of the frozen bananas Cashew kept in his satchel.

“Of course I know that, why do you think I’m in the shadows?” Cashew hastily retorted as he tried to cover up his startled state, “anyway, why are you here?”

“Like your banana-lolly, I don’t want to melt in the sun!” Monsuta laughed at his own joke and then disappeared into the bushes once again to continue his walk.

“So he doesn’t prefer the sun, could this be a hint...?”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Later that day, Cashew decided he was going to stick to the shadows to perform any further attacks. He stealthily made his way in front of Monsuta, who had continued his stroll into the forest, and placed banana peels into little dips of rock which were heavily covered in shadow. The place was a long, flat rock which was not far from the spot where Cashew and Monsuta had once gone hunting together, and the long, easy path made Cashew almost certain Monsuta was about to walk here. To his upmost delight, he began to hear approaching footsteps and ran behind a dense pile of leaves and twigs to hide in. Shortly after, Monsuta indeed appeared and was walking straight through the rock path and towards the hidden banana peels. (Any moment now, he will slip on the yellow skin and crack his good-for-nothing head and -)

Incredibly, Cashews thoughts were halted as he saw, with widening eyes, how Monsuta stepped onto a banana peel but instead of falling, he gracefully slid through across the surface of the flat rock, and simply shortened his walking distance whilst still reading a book! It was as if he were a professional ice skater and this was a mundane task he performed every day. Although Cashew was absolutely bewildered by the comical scene, he didn’t have a moment to spare as he had one more plan that he could use in order to kill Monsuta. He just had to make it back in time to set up and be ready for when Monsuta was going to pass by.

The sun was beginning to set when Cashew had ran back towards the mansion and had managed to climb onto the top of the mansion’s roof, where he now sat patiently waiting for Monsuta to come back. His final plan was to throw his rock-filled bananas and end Monsuta’s miserable life. However, he did not expect to be sweating up there for so long. He was ironically almost worried by how long it took Monsuta to appear, constantly imagining Monsuta had fallen somewhere in a ditch and was crawling slowly back to the mansion. (Don’t you dare die somewhere in the woods, I’d never forgive you because that was supposed to be my job.) Finally though, the blonde appeared and was slowly walking back, right into the trap! (Is it my imagination, or does he look worse than usual? Ah, never mind, it will be easier to get him with my banana grenades...)

The next few moments stretched out painfully long, but Cashew was determined to get his revenge. Waiting on the top of the roof, he could barely contain his excitement as Monsuta was about to walk right under where he was sitting, but then Cashew felt some sort of unease take over him. Deep down in his heart, a sort of bitterness started to spread, and he had no idea what it was.

Approaching closer and closer, Cashew tried to push away the dark and mysterious feeling, and was about to let go of the heavy bananas he was holding, when suddenly Monsuta stumbled and collapsed a few meters before. Annoyance and worry surprisingly surged through Cashews head and he immediately discarded of the bananas he was holding and immidiately climbed down towards the unconscious blonde. Cashew kept thinking (I will not let you die of natural causes; don’t you dare betray my right to kill you!), but he himself was strangely not convinced of his own words. As he approached Monsuta, he saw that the other had regained consciousness but was regardless sweating and pale. His book lay sprawled not far in front of him and a page or two had been accidentally ripped out.

“Oh Cashew! Did... you know that the surface.... of the Moon features a huge number of impact craters from comets and asteroids that... have collided with the surface over time.” Cashew saw that Monsuta was making a large effort to seem fine, but his desperation made him look pathetic in Cashew’s eyes. A voice deep in his heart made Cashew decide to help him stand up, “It’s because the Moon lacks an atmosphere or weather that these craters remain well preserved.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, cracks and stuff; just come on inside already and get better you idiot.”

Monsuta gave a little chuckle and followed Cashew in. “Honestly though,” Monsuta seemed better already, “you don’t have to worry about me, it’s just because it’s the last half moon before the blood moon day... a last checkpoint of sorts.”

“Why would I ever be worried of you,” Cashew grumbled. He didn’t understand a lot of what the blonde was saying to him, but he honestly didn’t really care as long as he eventually still had the chance to kill him and take revenge for his parents. Cashew helped Monsuta up the stairs and dropped the guy into his bed. He quickly discarded of all the banana weapons, deciding that they were all useless and that he has had enough of this fruit for one day, and went to bed himself.

“I hope you eat so many bananas that you get your self sick, you lucky monster!”


	12. Boat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monsuta and Cashew get transported into the future on a crazy journey of the sea!

Cashew woke up in complete, calming darkness at which he comfortably lay and stared into nothingness for a while more before getting completely up. A full night’s rest, in which both he and Monsuta had mysteriously got, had done him good. It seems that, despite all the questions and confusions floating around in his head, which accumulated in the past couple of days, had settled down for the night and re-energised him. At one point, Cashew wondered why indeed it was so quiet today and, upon looking outside noticed that there was not the slightest wind ruffling the trees nor grass. (A calm before a storm, eh.)

He flopped back down into his bed, and, taking advantage of his calm mind, started making a list of things he needed to kill Monsuta with when they made their journey once again to town. This moment, however did not last long as no sooner had Cashew sunk into his sheets and relaxed, had the door to the bedroom crashed open with two of Monsuta’s cats ran inside, their owner hot on their heels in pursuit.

“You guys are absolutely impossible, impossible I tell you! Hey! Get back here! I swear, today is the last day you two get to do as you please, I've been too nice on both of you. No longer will you steal my kindness, I’m giving you two a bath no matter if I have to chase you all day!”

Cashew angrily got out of his sheets in time before his bed got jumped and trampled on by five pairs of legs. The three hurled themselves around the room until Cashew finally gave out one of his loudest, exasperated sighs, and caught two tails and a blonde head in both of his hand and threw them all out while shouting “next time you guys disturb my peace, I will make sure you all get an extra long bath and I’ll scrub you all so rough, that you’ll drop dead in the water!” Then, slamming the door shut, Cashew got only the more annoyed at realising the sun was already up and he had to get ready to travel into town with Monsuta. (I never even finished thinking up my list of weapons) he thought sadly whilst opening the door for the final time that day and going down stairs.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

They had ridden to town on horseback because the carriage that Monsuta owned was still broken. The two beasts that they rode were beautiful, powerful creatures which did not slow down even once throughout their whole journey. Their flawless, black main and their incredibly long strides made Cashew think that even the horses were magical, and could somehow turn into human beings just as Alphy and Sasha had done. Yet when he tried to ask Monsuta, his eyes widened in awe as he saw the blonde was sleeping soundly on the back of his horse, to which the animal somehow managed to keep its back steady enough so that he wouldn’t fall off, whilst at the same time navigating its way to town. Half the journey passed before Cashew finally got over his shock, and broke his stare at the blonde to try and ask the horse him self. This is how he spent the rest of the journey whispering insanely into his poor horses ear, demanding that it tell him whether or not it was a magical creature which could morph into a human.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

They arrived into town roughly by the same time that they would have done if they were on carriage, which seemed impossible to Cashew to fathom, yet looking at the constant stamina with which the horses ran and the way Monsuta had slept on their backs gave Cashew a crack of belief. They stepped out and left the horses untied, since they were amazingly loyal and obedient creatures, and walked past the rows of flowers outside into Cashews shop. They were immediately met with a huge bellow of welcome from Earl and Cashew was suddenly bombarded with manly hugs and pats from the guy. Monsuta politely nodded his head in hello and took out his spoon and put it into his mouth out of habit. He intently looked around the shop at all the new plants and flowers that have appeared since their last visit and upon making eye contact with Cashew, a sudden realisation made him freeze and widen his eyes. Cashew stared intensely into the blonde’s eyes for a few, long moments, but upon seeing that no true intent was meant by the man, he huffed and gave a disgruntled wave of acceptance. Monsuta’s eyes took a shade of gratefulness and he gleefully continued chewing his spoon and started talking to Earl about a new plant he found which looked quite similar to a tulip. Taking advantage of the blonde’s diverted attention, Cashew quickly snuck through to the secret trap door and tiptoed down the stairs into Shirley’s lab. At first he couldn’t see anyone, but the smell of melting metal was strong in the air and he knew she had to be here somewhere. His eyes then settled onto a large, hanging piece of cloth which covered something grand beneath.

Subtle movement could be seen and a sudden a “finally, my creation is complete!” was heard from inside. Cashew went to lift the cloth to look inside but instead he was head-butted as a woman blindly emerged.

“Ow! Jeez Shirley, watch where your going!”

“Oh, Cashew? I had no idea you would be coming today! And just in time, too, as my newest invention has just been created. Although I have never tested it... but either way, you can still have a look if you’d like!”

She lifted a the cloth by pulling on a string and from within emerged an enormous metallic box, with wires and buttons sticking out from all sides, and an extra thick cable travelling from the machine to a control panel, at which Shirley now stood.

“Well, what do you think?”

Cashew didn’t have time to utter a single word before his blood turned to ice upon seeing that Monsuta had come down the stairs and was now standing behind Shirley. Noticing his sudden change in mood, Shirley slowly turned around and took in a surprised breath upon seeing the blonde stare with narrowed eyes at Cashew.

“Is he... the guy?” Shirley asked as they watched Monsuta silently and unblinking make his way past Shirley and straight to Cashew. Those black eyes, with a slit of white, a new moon’s reflection, unwaveringly continued to stare and forced Cashew into a state of silence. He desperately wanted to look away from this mental interrogation, but no way in his mind was he going to admit defeat and instead he only backed away slowly from the blonde. At last his back hit the wall inside of the big piece of metal that Shirley had been working on, and when Monsuta was close enough to the entrance of the machine, he was about to say something but was abruptly pushed from behind and stumbled clumsily into Cashew. Shirley slammed the door behind them and with a mischievous grin walked to the control panel and began pressing various buttons.

“What a great situation I have here? Thanks to you and your friend, I can test out if wether or not this thing actually works! Not only that, but seeing as... Monsuta, was it? Is still standing, that must mean that Cashew has had some trouble with... dealing with him. I’ll kill two birds with one stone by helping you, and transport you to a time of great danger in the human world using this brand new, first of its kind, time machine!”

“Wha- wait, Shirley! I’m still in here, did you forget?” Cashew was panicky slamming at a class window in the door, but Shirley simply said ‘she’s sure he can figure it out’ and flicked up one last switch before pressing down onto a bright red button. It took a few seconds of wondering if the machine truly didn’t work before both Cashew and Monsuta felt slightly nauseous. Then a headache began to form and outside the tiny window, it looked like rays of all colours of the rainbow and thousands of stars were flashing past. The two men slid down to the floor in order to get more balance and hoped that whatever was happening would soon end. Finally, a dull thump was heard and a sudden smell of salt in the air hit their noses and they looked out the window completely awestruck.

The door pushed open lightly from the slightest touch of a palm, and upon emerging, their eyes settled into a bedroom of a ship with the view of a never ending sea outside the window. The room was quite low above the water and included a pair of beds attached to the wall, covered by intricately woven patterned quilts and a little table stood in between. Two cups of hot tea on the table seemed to be served right before they teleported here, to which Monsuta gladly approached and started sipping on whilst looking out the window.

“How wonderful... will you just look at how blue that sea is? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“No! Not wonderful at all!” Cashew angrily took away Monsuta’s cup and spun him around to face him. “We are stranded on a boat in the middle of absolutely no where, and have no idea how to get off! Also, you have to explain your actions from before in the lab.”

Monsuta gave a very slow, large yawn before taking back his cup of tea and once again started sipping it whilst looking out into the ocean. Finally he gathered his thoughts and began to speak.

“As I have mentioned before, I usually cannot smell your blood.”

“Usually, I though I don’t smell at all?”

“Well that’s the thing, usually, I don’t smell your blood. But according to some of my recent findings, it smells, extremely sweetly - a scent so strong that I have never before smelt anything like it in all my years of existence, and which could send any other of my species with weaker willpower into insanity, and to top it all off, it only comes out when you are not afraid.” Cashew stared at Monsuta, unsure of what to say. “For example, when you are in that hidden cellar in your shop you relax so much that I could smell the scent of your blood from all the way by the horses upstairs. Yet due to your high alertness and unease in public, and possibly my intimidating aura that I give off helps, all consciously or unconsciously make you afraid and thus hiding your scent. Very unusual, I’ll give you that.”

Monsuta thoughtfully placed his cup back on the table whilst Cashew was processing his racing thoughts in his head. From his side, Monsuta took out a book with the title ‘Plants of the Dinosaur Ages’, but upon looking at the cover with an unimpressed look, he seemed to decide that he was not in the mood for reading the book at this particular time and placed it back inside.

“Alright then, Cashew, we need to go look for something to read which is more appropriate for the occasion.” The blonde yawned once more and got up and walked out into a long, glamorous hallway and started making his way down with Cashew stumbling not far behind him.

“Wai... wait a second! How dare you just call me afraid of you and walk away? You call that answer to my question?? How disgraceful, hey! Wait!”

They rounded a corner and upon walking up a flight of stairs emerged onto the deck of the ship. It was cold and there were dozens of small boats attached by thick ropes on either side of them, but they nevertheless decided to walk slowly across and deeply breathed in the fresh air. They enjoyed as their hair was lightly swept up by the wind, and Monsuta had ran up to the side bar, much like a child would, and excitedly laughed as he saw stick fish fly out the water as they passed. Cashew was looking up at the seagulls and made sure thatthey didn’t decide to take a dump anywhere near him when a sudden thought came to mind.

“Hey, you know we are on a ship, right?”

Monsuta looked at him quizzically and stifled yet another yawn.

“There! Exactly my point. How are you still standing and awake if we are on a moving thing?”

“Oh your right!” The relaxed atmosphere added to the look of surprise on Monsuta’s face and very nearly made Cashew burst out with laughter, but he forced himself to remember the distaste he felt with Monsuta’s disgusting cooking and managed to hold back. “To be honest, I do not know. Possibly due to the lack of travel by boat from me and my past family members, we have somehow not developed the same sleepiness we feel to other modes of transport. Or the rhythm of water is different to that of land, either way, I do not know but you are right,” he let out another yawn before being able to finish what he was saying, “however I still feel that drowsiness might still catch up to me soon.”

As the sun began to set, Monsuta gave a last wave to the fish and then the two men walked back inside where they found a grand, winding staircase, made of polished oak, wrought iron and an assortment of boutique glass. The staircase was situated below a beautiful dome that gave an excellent illusion of natural light at any hour of the day. In the centre stood a large carved panel containing a clock, which, when the two men walked past, caused them to widened their eyes even more at the view below.

Thousand of people’s voices led them to the largest dining room they have ever seen. The room was decorated in an attractive Jacobean style and was painted in a peanut white. The decorations around were all magnificent, based of off some fine houses from England, and that of Hutton Hall. The furniture was made of oak and designed to add luxury and comfort at all times. Monsuta eyed the semi closed booths where people could sit on in the side and elbowed Cashew to follow him. On the way there he also saw something on the corner of his vision and quickly grabbed some sort of leaflet before finally the two sat down. They were immediately approached by a waiter who asked them their order, to which, not knowing of the date and place of where they sat, simply replied “Give us a set of your finest cuisine!”.

“What are you reading this time?” Cashew asked exasperatedly, looking at the leaflet that Monsuta had found.

”This? It’s the booklet of the ship. Oh my, it says here that this is the worlds largest man-made moving object, of 269 metres. There is also a gym, pool, Turkish Bath, a kennel for first class dogs and even squash courts... Cashew we just have to visit all of these after dinner!” At Cashew’s silence and look of disappointment, Monsuta decided to simply continue reading and figure out a way to force the other to come with him some other time. “Can you believe that they have 20,000 bottles of beer, 1,500 bottles of wine and 8,000 cigars on board with them, and it’s all for first class!”

“Yeah, well I guess we must be one of them” Cashew muttered as the waiter brought them a bottle of some fancy wine that neither of them could pronounce. After their meals came and went, several hours had passed at which Monsuta had gone back to his ‘Plants of the Dinosaur Ages’book so that he wouldn’t fall asleep, which Cashew admitted he found more interesting than learning how many tonnes of coal the ship used up.

It was them that, without warning, the whole ship gave an immense jolt and the lights turned off and on in a flash. Quite a few glasses and plates had crashed down onto the floor and a couple of people screamed with the movement. Both Cashew and Monsuta sat alarmed in their seats for a couple of long minutes until a man in a suit and long, white beard came rushing down the grand stairs and shouting “We are sorry for any inconvenience, everyone please calm down! This ship is designed to be unsinkable so there is nothing to worry about.” Waiters went about cleaning broken ceramics and everything seemed to go back to normal as the sound of chatter rose up loudly once again. Cashew was about to comment on something that Monsuta had read out when he felt a shiver crawl down his spine upon looking at the other’s face.

Monsuta was staring down at a page that the leaflet had flipped to, a picture of the front of the ship and his knuckles curled up until they turned white.

“Do you remember how Shirley mentioned that we were going back in time of great danger?”

“Uhm, yes. Have you figured out what it is?”

Monsuta flipped the leaflet over so that Cashew could see, and pointed to a bunch of strange squiggly letters painted on the large metallic side of the ship.

“Is that the ship name? What does it say? I can’t read this strange language even though it sounds the same.”

Breathing out heavily, Monsuta momentarily closed his eyes and muttered, “this is the Titanic. It is the year 1912; we have hit an ice-berg and are going to sink very soon.” He then opened his eyes to the stunned face of Cashew, and with an even deeper look of distress, said “and we haven’t even done the ‘I’m flying’ scene yet...”

Cashew was still extremely confused when Monsuta grabbed his arm and hurriedly walked through the dining room and back onto the deck.

“Hey, what are you doing? How can we be up here when the ship is sinking? We must get back to the time machine and-“

“Are you crazy? I can’t let up this opportunity! Now hurry up before Jack and Rose get there.”

Cashew couldn’t do anything but clumsily follow Monsuta back up the way they came from and onto the edge of the ship, deciding that the sooner he got over the others weird outburst, which he probably read in one of his books, the sooner he would be able to go back to the time machine. It was very dark and frosty outside now, and no seagulls nor fish were around them anymore, yet the eerie feeling Cashew was accumulating within was quickly turned to annoyance when Monsuta handed a poor old fellow his iPhone and told the confused man to press a button so that he could take a photograph of them. Then Monsuta told Cashew to stand at the very end in a T pose, and suddenly wrapped his hands around his waste. The old man must have been an expert, since he managed to take a series of photographs which included a millisecond of Cashew and Monsuta standing in the iconic movie pose of “Titanic”, and then the very next millisecond to where Cashew was beating up the blonde. Finally, with ruffled hair and clothes, Monsuta managed to get the phone back and thanked the old man whole heartedly, whispering under his breath something about how he will have fun posting these later.

“Ok we should start getting back now before we sink with the boat” the blonde said whilst still gleefully looking through his new photographs.

“If you are correct about the boat sinking, shouldn’t you say something to all the passengers on how they should look for safety?”

That’s when the blonde’s face shadowed over, and looking sadly at Cashew he gave a little shake of his head.

“No matter what we know, we should not change the future, it’s already a problem that we’re here. I’m afraid that either way, there are not enough safety boats on this ship in the first place to accommodate all the passengers in need of safety, nor was there any system developed in case of emergency. Nevertheless, after this accident there were many changes made to future ships in order to increase the safety of people.”

“I know but...” Cashew looked down gloomily at his feet and continued to follow Monsuta.

They were just about to ascend through the stairs leading to their room when suddenly a loud roar of fear rose up to their ears. The sounds of screams and cries made every hair on Cashew’s body rise, and the sudden freeze from Monsuta up ahead told him that the blonde was just as spooked. It seems that the news of the sinking ship had spread around to all the passengers, and the sound of drumming footsteps was approaching swiftly.

“Monsuta, hurry, we still have a lot of levels to get through to our room!” But the blonde didn’t move. His eyes were unfocused and he kept whispering something under his breath of which Cashew could only make out a couple words of.

“People... dreams... killed... have come... haunt me...”

“Hey! Monsuta, snap out of it, we have to go! There’s people flooding out onto the decks already and unless you want me to beat you up again we must hurry!”

It was Cashews turn to pull on Monsuta’s arm and together they slowly made their way through the swarm of bodies. By the time they reached their floor, Monsuta seemed to be back to his normal self, but upon stepping onto their hallway, the two once again gave each other a look of worry. The water had already risen up to here, and was still rapidly rising even as they stood there, up every level, splashing violently side to side and turning as half of the ship was being pushed out of the water. By the time they reached their door, they had to nearly crawl in order to avoid sliding down to the other end. Cashew turned the door knob in panic but it wouldn’t budge, to which Monsuta gave a large kick and made it fly open. They climbed in and were now half walking on the wall as the water continued to fill up and past their knees. Hurriedly, they both made it inside the time machine, but now they desperately hoped that even though it was filling with water that it would still work. They were now calling Shirley’s name and banging various buttons and switches.

“I thought Shirley said you could figure how this thing worked?” Monsuta asked.

“Like hell I could! I’ve been around it for about a minute less than you have!”

“Well I never thought I would spend my last moments with you in a sinking ship.” Monsuta laughed and sat down in the water. Cashew gave up banging on various pieces of metal and with clenched jaws, also slid down to join him.

“You know, you are the only person who has stuck with me for this long in a while.” Cashew suddenly looked up at him in surprise, “the last one to do that was my sister. She died in an apartment 10 years ago and, although I admit she was sometimes a little over the top and liked to push everyone’s limits, she was always there to support me. She liked to play the piano, but sadly her death was during a very hard time of my life and until you appeared I wasn’t the same. Thank you for letting me read my random books to you and letting me show you London, no matter what your actual intentions really were.”

The earnest and sad smile on the blonde’s face moved something within Cashews heart, and it was at that moment that he realised that the other was the loneliest being in the world. Lonelier than him. He was about to ask something more, when suddenly the door to the time machine was opened and all the salt water instantly poured out. A surprised shout was heard from the other side and Shirley’s head poked in.

“I knew you would figure it out, Cashew! But sadly I think you filled some wires and pipes so I’ll have to re-fix the whole damn thing! Oh and I see your friend there is still alive, so you either felt nice or you didn’t manage to shake him off, huh?.”

The two men just stared at her the whole time of her speaking and eventually their muscles caught up to their tiredness and gave way as they slid onto the floor outside, relief sweeping over them to once again be on flat ground.

“You pair are quite a lucky, aren’t you...” Shirley just stood cross-armed and shook her head.


	13. Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monsuta and Cashew are separated for the first time in a while...

Cashew slowly woke up from his daze and found that he was still sprawled out and lying on the cold floor. His muscles had a ghostly ache to them and his damp clothes reminded him of the horrific images he had seen not long before. He slowly pushed himself up and noticed that Monsuta was nowhere to be found. Instead, he observed around him that the time machine was still broken and left where it was. There were two puddles on the floor- one obviously his own and the other Monsutas, but the blonde’s was stretched and dragged across the floor, leaving a wet trail which ended at the foot of a large crate. Cashews head had a mild headache as his thoughts started up once more, and the sight of Shirley, who was working on something not far from the crate, triggered his usual annoyed state.

“Shirley, there you are! How could you just leave me here on the soaking floor and continue with your experiments?”

“Oh! Cashew!” She quickly looked up to greet him and then returned hastily to her work, “don’t make such a fuss now, ok? You were only asleep for a few minutes and anyway, I needed to get something done before he woke up!”

Cashew walked up to see what she was doing and recoiled suddenly with surprise. Shirley was attaching a few final wires together and turning some buttons, adjusting a monitor on a large box. It had two enormous wires sticking out from the top, which bent in various dynamic ways, and every now and then, a light would turn on and off in the top right corner. On the screen Cashew could see a person laying amidst a sandstorm of tiny yellow dots that were flying around him wildly, yet never too close to him.

“Is that Monsuta? And what are those things around - there’s so many! What are you going to do with him?”

“These little creatures are called Mirrowees. It’s a brand new species I’ve created which looks a little bit like a bee, except they are supposed to do exactly what I tell them to... for example, if I tell them to all hover in one place, then they will.” Shirley proceeded by flicking up a switch on the side, in which the light turned green and the monitor immediately showed that the little dots now stayed in one place. Pleased with herself, Shirley was about to flick another switch, but the mischievous twinkle in her eyes made Cashew feel mysteriously uneasy.

“And what is the reason for dragging Monsuta into this place?” Cashew hurriedly asked, a little more harshly than he had meant to.

“Well you wanted to kill him, didn’t you?”

The sudden question took Cashew by surprise, to which he could only flutter his eyes back to the monitor and see that Monsuta was beginning to stir. He still had so many questions for the man; so many things that remained a mystery for him, that he was certain would make his head hurt if he were never to find them out. But that wasn’t the main reason why Cashew took so long to reply, a feeling deep inside him, which he himself did not understand, made him waver and hesitate. Finally, he managed to answer in what he thought was a steady, level voice “yes... of course, but I will be the one to do that!”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! I just want to see how my pets will react to a new human being, and if they were to prick him,” eyes wild and too crazed with the excitement of the experiment to be reasoned with, Cashew couldn’t move a single step before Shirley suddenly flicked the switch which her finger was hovering longingly over, “how would human blood react to their venom?”

“Are you out of your mind?” Cashew wanted to yell, but he saw that the Mirrowees pounce upon their pray, immediately stopped a few centimetres around Monsuta and flew as far back as they possibly could from him, desperately seeking a way out of the crate and clasping to the sides of the walls in panic. The green button on Shirley’s control pad started flashing and the monitor glitched momentarily, the frame it was stuck on for a few seconds was Monsuta’s distorted face as his fully black eyes stared up at the camera. The lights around them flickered off and on, and it was in the same moment that both Shirley and Cashew felt a wave of discomfort pass through them, where each of their hairs, in turn, rose and fell. They both looked at each other with shock, before Shirley started to spastically slam the machine, willing for it to work.

“It can’t have broken already, and it was working so well before! Why are they not responding to my commands? All the prototypes have been flawless before!” As Cashew kept on staring at her, the monitor went back to normal and, still keeping far away from Monsuta, the Mirrowees began to slowly revert to their previous actions. Shirley eventually calmed down and finally took hold of herself once more, level-headedly turning some buttons and again flicking the switch for the creatures inside the crate to hover in their place.

“I admit, I was a little too eager for that one, but my real reason for testing on him was because I was earlier agitated by the fact that I couldn’t take any blood from him. I wanted to make sure that there were no consequences to your bodily systems from experiencing the time machine. It was only thanks to your sample, Cashew, that I managed to get any answers at all. Meanwhile your friend, over there, had all the syringes I used on him broken as soon as they touched his skin! Imagine my surprise when the needles bent and snapped from contact with him... Therefore, I wanted to use my pets to help me, as they are far better equipped at penetrating the skin than a flimsy needle, but even that failed! There must have been a fault in the system, but no matter, I still have one option I could try... you just stay there, Cashew dear, as I set up the next crate.”

With that, Shirley rushed busily around Cashew, attaching new wires to various places, and pushing boxes wildly across the room. All this time the raven-haired man stood and stared at the monitor where a blonde idiot was now dancing happily around, enjoying how the bee-looking creatures were trying desperately to stay in place and and not fly away from him.

“He’s not human.” Cashew whispered.

“Huh? What did you say?” Shirley shouted without looking up from her work.

“What are you?” Cashew walked closer to the monitor, slamming both palms on either side of the screen and focusing up close to the image projected inside. “You asked me to guess what you are, but I haven’t the slightest clue. Retched demon? Cursed spirit? What beast has the power to send fear through those around him and smell their blood from far away? But even then, he holds human empathy and requires the basics of food and sleep to sustain him! No, no! I cannot be under the d’illusion that he is alive at all, for he cannot taste food, his eyes constantly change to the colours of the moon, and every time I try to erase him of this earth, some unimaginable luck always saves him. The more I think about it, the more my head hurts on the topic.”

Shirley silently took the control pad away from him and connected a final wire before she pressed a button which triggered a low, rumbling button to gently shake the ground. Cashew followed her and saw that the monitor now showed a new room, a tropical one with large winding vines, tall grasses and enormous, alien flowers which had a row of sharp spikes running down the sides of its petals. Then, to his surprise, Cashew saw Monsuta curiously enter a door in the side of the new room, probably the source of the previous rumbling, and along with him, before the door shut, followed one of the Mirrowees which had escaped Shirley’s control. Cashews eyes followed the little creature as it buzzed thirstily around the sweet petals of the toothy plants. Cashew didn’t even have time to blink before the closest plant quickly swerved around and snapped shut its flowers around the helpless Mirrowee, entrapping the poor thing in a tight bud.

“What on earth just happened?” Cashew stood, wide eyed at the scene before him.

“Exactly what you just saw. These are Venus Fly traps I had just genetically modified them to follow any moving objects they sense next to them and capture them as they walk past! Oh don’t look at me like that, he’ll be fine. Even though they’re extremely large, they don’t take well to people, and only favour the taste of bugs, I swear! Imagine how many bugs I need to feed them with, eh? Anyway, at worst they’ll catch hold of his arm and spit him out immediately, and by that time I’ll finally have a sample of his blood on their teeth! I have a reputation to keep, mind you, for everyone should know that no one is to get between me and my research!!”

Soon after saying this proud speech, Shirley’s face once again took the form of surprise and annoyance as Monsuta approached one of the Venus Fly traps, which in turn meekly turned away as far as its roots possessed it to.

“So plants which are able to move and hunt are scared of him too...” Cashew whispered, and once again the cogs in his head started to work up as he tried to figure out Monsuta’s mystery.“He once had a will to kill, as I’ve seen from our connected pasts, ” Cashew thoughtfully murmured to himself, “and his eyes can turn a possessed shade of red. It is also true that he has incredible strength, and I’ve even seen his face morph into that of a wild animal, with long fangs and distorted, long fingers! But what monster can be so frightening, yet love books and wish for company with such passion? So many hints yet no answers are coming to mind -”

“A vampire?” Cashews blood cooled as Shirley’s stunned eyes met his. Her body began to shake slightly and she frighteningly took a few steps back from the monitor. “Your... your description of his abilities... I have once read it in a book so frightening, I disregarded it for myth and decided to study science, instead of magic, for the rest of my life... it was the reason I never taught you any magic myself! Nevertheless, my mind refuses to forget the horrors of which I had read, and I know for sure that that description is perfect for non other than a vampire.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

It was when he was dancing, surrounded by thousands of little creatures- thousands of lives busily flying around him in a strange little box that made him think of those lives he knew and treasured in his heart. His cats, his horses, Cashew, and even his sister... The gleam of the spoon in his mouth and the loud buzz around him turned his mind to fluid and it shaped into a memory from ten years ago. Before it had time to manifest and solidify, a loud rumble suddenly sounded from behind him and he shook his head violently from side to side, as if he could shake the dreadful memory out of his head. A door had been lifted amidst the rumble and he passed it with extreme curiosity, amused at finding a roomful of toothy flowers and tropical vines prettily decorated in the space next door. A single buzzing passed his ear and he observed as a little bug flew next to a flower, to which mere moments passed before it was being digested inside the petals! He was intrigued, of course, and decided to investigate the flowers himself, sad with the knowledge that they too, like most other things, feared his aura, but glad to know that they could not run away. His fingers slowly rose up to touch the carnivorous plant, but upon feeling the smoothness of the petals beneath his hands, the dreadful memory resurfaced, and it was many times stronger than the last time.

He was straddled above a limp woman’s body, fresh blood oozed from his mouth and long strands of hair swayed angrily around his head. It was then that he realised this was not his memory from ten years ago, but his sisters! A little gasp had sounded behind her, and suddenly her body was upon the cupboard door, looming threateningly over a small, shivering boy. Shock filled the blonde’s heart as he saw through his sister’s eyes that it was indeed Cashew as a young boy cowering beneath. He could only watch as the scene played on, like a movie with no end. Her laughter and then screams echoed for far too long in his ears, and upon the final twist that the boy gave with the knife, Monsuta finally broke free from the entrapping, terrifying memory.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“We need to get him out of there!”

“Wait, what you said makes no sense...”

“We can talk about that later, but for now, if we don’t get him out of this measly crate he will butcher us both to death for our stupid acts! And why is he just standing there? Has he heard us speak? Has he already decided to end our lives for my idiotic experiments?

Shirley frantically unbolted one of the latches that opened the door to the crate and waited stiffly to see what would happen next. Cashew was still dazed when Monsuta walked out, and dazed still when the other started talking to him, the words the other was saying merely passing through and out of his ears.

“You are a vampire” he finally muttered. The blonde stopped abruptly, and stared in disbelief at him. Long moments passed before the slightest movement was acted.

“Yes. I see you have finally figured it out. I suppose I have also figured out a secret during our parting, and now know that you are Cashew Revanche. You are the boy who killed my sister, and hold the name of the family whom I last murdered.”

Silence.

“So it is true.” Cashew managed to utter out, “I changed my name from that moment to Cashew, truly as Kyushu- a Japanese term with which I declared the rest of my life for the sole purpose of revenge. You are the lucky vampire who has survived my wrath from the moment our paths crossed ten years after.”


	14. Needles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cashew and Monsuta finally talk it out and uncover what really happened in the dark past...

Cashew felt numbed inside as he slowly made his way around the room, collecting new supplies that he will use in the next week, drearily, with the faintest presence of mind. He used a minimum consciousness to go through his list - the list he had previously scribbled on when he was still full of anger and ambition at killing Monsuta in the name of revenge. Neither the sewing kit, the wires, the tape nor the pair of straps that Cashew picked up had any connection to his actual thoughts, which in all honestly were a huge mess, if they were there at all. The constant strain he felt mentally and physically this time around in town had finally accumulated to a point where Cashew might as well have been a walking corpse, and Monsuta was no better. They hadn’t spoken to each other, nor to Shirley, even as she called a meek goodbye to each of them with Monsuta exiting the basement first and then followed by Cashew later.They both functioned like machines, robotically following their usual routine of going back to the mansion, and eventually they made their way to their horses.

A collective whispering from around pulled Cashew back into the world, slowly taking in sounds and smells once more, and getting a fragment of conscious thought back for a moment. He first heard the dull and heavy footsteps that their feet made as they were dragged across the ground. Then he took note of the slow turning of pages and sighs that Monsuta managed to express whilst reading a book (rather out of out of habit as there was obvious lack of interest). Then Cashew noticed how he felt an emptiness of his own heart, looking up and around to see a grey world, void of colour and feeling. It was at that moment that he found that the initial whispering actually came from the villagers. They were unusually scarce, hidden within shadows of windows and alleyways, as if hiding from something or someone. Cashew would even say that they looked scared of himself, and cowered even more as the two men passed.He used what little energy he had left to try and strain his ears for distinguishing what they were whispering about.

“Looks like him doesn’t he?”

“Same eyes...”

“... brought too much suffering, he has”

“...same aura, doesn’t he?”

“He certainly looks like him.”

These comments continued the whole of their journey through town and Cashew realised that they were all directed towards his companion. It only struck him after Monsuta had fallen asleep on horseback and they had left the city center that today was supposed to be the busiest market day of the week, yet none of the villagers had set up their shops, and not even the children nor elders were out playing and enjoying the fresh air. In fact they all looked more shrivelled, as if stress and lack of sleep had caused their skin to retrieve into the crevices of bone, as if a sickness had possessed this part of the land, and some type of disease befell with which not a single soul who lived here could escape.

At a similar time, Cashew also realised that he was going back to the abode of a vampire. It had not fully struck him yet how bizarre of a fact that was, especially with him returning willingly even after knowing that. Cashew was simply doing as he had done for the past couple of months upon returning from town, and didn’t even register how fragile his life is around such a predator. A slow, sickly panic began to rise in his stomach, rising up to his throat and nearly suffocating him. He frantically began to tug at his horse’s rails, trying to turn the animal around, but it was to no avail. The creature sped swiftly on, not even with the slightest twitch from the sudden tugs, and continued obediently down the path her master had ordered. Cashew despairingly looked around and was seriously considering jumping off and risk breaking a leg when his eyes fell upon the sleeping face of Monsuta. His thoughts immediately began to subside, and he remembered that if the other wanted to kill him, he could have done so easily. Cashew realised that the blonde had never extracted any of his blood, nor had he shown any threat or danger towards him. It was the same man who had employed him, the same man who had shared his hobbies and his interests with him, and the same man who could express looks of joy, surprise and sadness with the most genuine of heart.

“Then I must truly find out if Monsuta is really the monster all those books about vampires had portrayed, and I will get the answer from his own mouth.”

They arrived to the mansion not long after, and to Cashews mild dismay, before he had a chance to say anything, Monsuta had motioned for him to sit in the living room and wait for him till he took care of the horses. Cashew did just that, and the next time the two met, his mind was fresh and full of new determination.

“You want...”

“Answers, yes. And when you give...”

“Those answers, you will give some too.”

Sitting on opposite ends of the couch, there was an air of stiffness in the room, but soon enough the slow and short conversation grew and grew.

“I guess I will start from the fact that I am a vampire,” Monsuta shifted uncomfortably but nevertheless continued. “I am indeed the monster that you perceive, with sharp fangs and a desire for blood. I can’t taste normal, human food and my eyes change in accordance to the moon. As I’ve mentioned before, they serve as a reminder that every 10 years, there is a checkpoint, of sorts, to which we vampires get a strong urge to drink blood. Our eyes will flash a couple of half-moons before the event, as a warning, because if we don’t drink anything on that day, we have a high possibility of loosing all control over our bodies for the next few days- turning into some sort of monstrous fiend, driven only by instinct and primal urges. This is problematic, as you can imagine, since it brings a lot of attention to us. There are a handful of vampire identities which were exposed this way and have since been hunted down, even though this phenomena occurs because that vampire didn’t want to drink human blood anymore. I assure you that even myself, have been blood-free for the past 10 years and will continue to do so, locking myself up from the world with the help of Sasha and Alphy on the week of the red moon. You will go back to town and if you so wish it, and it is perfectly understandable if you do, then we will never see each other again.” Monsuta let Cashew to think about what he just said for a few moments before he continued. “Now that you know you are safe from me, the next thing I would like tell you is why I have decided to not drink any blood for so long.”

This was when Monsuta’s expression took a dark twist and Cashew could see just how much he was straining to keep his composure. “I believe that you deserve nothing but the truth, after all the things you’ve gone through and especially with what I... did to your family. Trust me, if I had known I would never have asked you...”

“Please continue, I’m here to hear the truth.”

“Well, of course. Right. Then I’ll tell you about what happened 10 years ago. My brother, sister and parents were out satisfying our thirst in the name of the red moon. It had been a couple of decades by now since I was sick of killing and of being a vampire, but my parents were extremely hard on all of us, hammering down nearly every day on the fact that to kill is in our nature and we must uphold our status of top-predator as our only goal. My siblings had long stopped questioning and justifying their actions, and our parents utilised their preachings to turn them into hellish killing machines. Nevertheless, they were my only family and I still held them both dear to my heart. Every passing day made me sicker as I killed and killed. I began to never sleep in fear of the nightmares, but I stayed in fear of the consequences upon my life from leaving. Eventually I got to choose the last family that we were to feast on for that night, and I chose yours as I only sensed two bodies inside, as opposed to the usual five or eight that the rest of my family picked. My mind and soul was so tainted by then, that my conscience began to manifest as a physical pain. It was then that I secretly pledged that I would kill no more after the death of your parents. I no longer cared if I lived or died from the consequences, and is therefore why I took a memoir from the place that I spilled last blood, a spoon, to remind me of that. But that night something unimaginable occurred, where I had no clue that by leaving earlier than the rest of my family, I would find myself alone for the next 10 years. You see, a mere human had managed to kill my mother, my father, my sister and brother all in one night. It is unfathomable that such a thing could have occurred. Nearly a whole family of vampires to perish and so instantly? Such a thing has never happened in thousands of years! Free at last of my responsibilities, I took my most prized belongings, mostly books and my sister’s piano, and moved to a forest to be alone. I found that this house was not far from a town that had been untouched by the wrath of vampires and I realised that I could atone more by increasing my suffering if I had a living, breathing human by my side. Then when I got to know you, I finally realised how my family could have died - you, Cashew, have a rare alteration to your blood which makes it odourless in high amounts of fear. But even if this allowed you to be undetectable, you still had to somehow kill the vampires... which you did using rust.”

Cashew’s confusion from the last sentence only increased with Monsuta’s unreadable expression. It was stone hard and cold, but without the slightest hint of hatred and anger as he told his tale.

“I merely used a knife my mother had gifted me before her moments of death...” Cashew managed to mumble, “...I was overcome with grief and rage to think of what I was doing and killed them as if they were any normal murderer... first with your sister, and then two more who came round the corner...”

“And it was exactly because of that knife, a special kind of rust mixed in with your unique blood and sweat of desperation, which poisons a vampires blood in seconds. An element of surprise may have also been in your favour. Actually, another reason I took the spoon was because I’d heard of this rumour that vampires could die from rust and even wished that the spoon would poison me, but it seems that it never did.”

“Well that’s because that spoon is made of stainless steel, you goof” Cashew stretched and rose to get rid of a cramp in his leg. He proceeded to walk around the room until flopping back down onto the couch, rubbing his face with his hands. He thought for a while, letting his expression simmer down to a blank, cold slate to match that of Monsuta’s, before he perked up once more. “If you wanted to repent or whatever, why did you choose an “odourless” human? Isn’t that against your purpose?”

“Lets say my interest for your rarity got the better of me... and I sort-of chickened out since having a human that smelt all the time would mean there’s a higher chance of me to kill them, and that disgusted me.”

“Fine, then here’s one more question, I only killed three people, never four. I think I have a vague memory of a fourth shadow, most possibly your brother, leaving by the time he realised the rest of his family was suddenly dead.”

This statement brought a long silence to the room. Monsuta stared wide-eyed at Cashew, till Cashew thought that his eyes could go no wider.

“That is news indeed...” Monsuta finally whispered. “I was never... close with my brother. Compared to my sister, he had been far worse with murder, easier to manipulate, and that often resulted in us falling out. Take my advice and if you see someone with my exact appearance except with black hair, avoid him at all costs.” Monsuta then looked up uncertainly at Cashew, as if debating on how he should phrase the next thing he wanted to say. “Of course, now that I finished with the most important details, if you would like to leave, I completely understand and could bring you a horse immediately. I could move entirely if you wish, so as to be further away from you, Shirley and Merl, and will restart my repentance, truthfully this time, with a different human being who’s blood I can smell...”

“There you go again about repenting!” Cashew suddenly jumped up with annoyance, “look, it’s not your fault you’re a vampire. If you even think for a second that you can get rid of me after all the hard work I’ve put into the garden and trying to kill you, then you’ve got another thing coming. If it holds you any comfort, you said my blood smells sweeter than any one else’s sometimes, correct? Well then be satisfied with what you’ve got until you get struck down by me. Only me, you got that?”

The sudden outburst caught both of them off guard, where even Sasha and Alphy, who were listening not far away, dropped their mouths wide open.

“You really won’t go? Even after all that I’ve told you today?” Monsuta jumped up with his old expression of juvenile happiness rushing back into his face.

“Weren’t you listening?” Cashew retorted, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden, “and don’t you dare look so happy, in fact, go find a needle in a haystack for all I care! Hopefully you’ll die of boredom, but with your annoying luck, you’ll probably find it in no time.”


	15. Trap (final chapter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter. I will be rewriting the whole book in order for things to make sense... thank you if you’ve read this far of the first draft of my first ever story!!

“So hey can you turn into a bat? Or like, could you change your teeth and nails anytime you want? Oh and...”

Slam! The book Monsuta was reading went flying against the wall as he defeatedly sighed and got up to stretch. All morning he had been pestered by Cashew, bombarded with question after question upon him being a vampire and how everything works. The news between them had been out for a few days by now and both of them had begun to accept reality, one more comfortably than the other..!

“Yes, yes, already! I can turn into a bat, rat, wolf or mist at any time I please but-“

“Then why don’t you?” Cashew excitedly interrupted, “and why mist? That’s a very random answer don’t you think?”

“BUT it takes a lot of effort to transform and ever since I have become a sort of vegetarian I don’t have any urge to become any of that stuff. Mist because it allows vampires to slither through cracks under the door or through the window frame.” Another exasperated sigh and Monsuta made his way downstairs. “Why does it feel like we’ve switched personality recently...”

Cashew came bounding up behind him, ever the more hyper, asking over and over “where are we going today?” or “show me what a wolf reading a book looks like!” until Monsuta called for his two cats and asked them to get his horses.

“Actually, today is the day you go back to town.”

“What? But why so sudden? Didn’t you say that was tomorrow?”

“No, my senses give me a feeling that doom is approaching quicker than we anticipated, and secondly your annoying scent is rising up faster than I had hoped.” A murderous gleam came about Monsuta’s face momentarily before breaking up into laughter at Cashews unease.

“I know you only do that to make fun of me. How dare you!”

“Oh please! Any other vampire and you would have been dead long ago. Anyway, as it is last day, pack your things and think of something you wish from me as a parting gift.”

The two jet-black horses came bounding up to the front of the gates long before Cashew was ready with his satchel in his hand. It was just as full as it was hen he had last came back from town.

“Tell me, Monsuta, why does this feel like I’m being fired for good?” Cashew tried to give a small smile as he asked.

“An answer is what you wish for on your last day, huh.” Monsuta suddenly turned and met his icy, nearly fully-white eyes with Cashew’s blue ones. “You know for sure that I am a vampire - a monster who was designed to drink human blood. I remind you everyday that the mere smell of blood can send us out of control, and I have also fully confessed that it was I who murdered your entire family. It is to your knowledge that I have not drunken any blood for the past 20 years, meaning that I am most certainly in my weakest form (an advantage to you). I know for a fact that you have a bag full of ropes and whatnot which you brought with the sole purpose of taking revenge upon your parents, yet you have not even looked at them since we have come back from our last trip to town.” His words became more aggressive and were spat out only more forcefully the longer he continued. “My brother is out on the loose and I have spent the past 20 years cooped up in this mansion - cosy and away from all my problems. So, dear friend, to answer your last question - if you don’t kill me, no one will. I will leave you at my most unstable point, right before the blood moon, and will find my brother. I will take care of both myself and my brother before any more harm is done and will end the vampire lineage forever. If I can barely hold back on causing destruction and bloodshed upon humanity then I can say for certain that my brother definitely can’t and it is not even worth thinking about how many lives he has taken in the past few years. That is as good a reason as any for me to leave you and disappear. My purpose is to take down the world of blood-thirsty monsters with my last breath.”

Cashew stared in amazement at the blonde.

“You called me dear friend!”

Spinning around aggressively, Monsuta yelled with scorn, “that’s the part your going to focus on?! Did you now hear the sarcasm which was dripping out of those words? Which friends try to kill each other?”

“Well... for one thing, I’m no longer trying to kill you, and as you said, you’ve held back for the past 20 years so my life is in no danger. It must have been difficult for you and I believe possessing such a extremely strong will means that you are no monster.” Monsuta’s faced took up an expression of genuine surprise. Cashew, satisfied with the transformation, continued calmly, “I think it’s safe to say that we are friends and it is only because I trust you that I will leave today. I know that having a mere human around will only bring you down in a fight with the other vampires, but in return you will stay alive and re-hire me in a weeks time!”

“I’m... your friend? No one has ever...” Monsuta could only stare as Cashew laughed and mounted a horse. He eventually came to his senses and, with his old smile upon his face, climbed onto his own horse and the two started for town. As per usual, Cashew looked over to find a sleeping blonde mysteriously still hanging onto his galloping horse through all sorts of terrain. He was actually imagining how next time he will be bringing an assortment of decorative gardening and house supplies instead of ‘killing’ equipment from Shirley’s place. Suddenly, a horse screech made him twist around and nearly fall of his own horse as he saw that Monsuta was sitting as upright as a pole with eyes clearly open, wide awake.

“He’s here...” the blonde whispered barely loud enough for Cashew to hear. In less than a second after, Monsuta declared the command “Turn back!”

Both horses did just as he wanted without even the slightest tug to the rails, forcing Cashew to slip harshly to the side and only be able to stay onto of his saddle only through his leg getting stuck underneath. With heavy breaths and extreme effort, he eventually got back up.

“Hey! Wait! Monsuta, what is the meaning of this?”

“The brother that you so dearly described was still alive is in town at this exact moment. The fact that I’ve already sensed him might mean that we are already too late, since he is a lot more powerful than I am, and he will catch up to us in no time if he knew I was here.”

“You mean, he’s in the village now?”

“Yes and we’d be lucky to escape his sense... hopefully I’m too weak and insignificant for him to notice me!”

“So... that must mean that he is the monster that kept terrorising the villagers and made them the traumatised and scared people we saw in our last visit!”

“Yes.” Monsuta murmured with a grimace on his face, making Cashew’s skin crawl with goosebumps, “he is capable of that.” The trees and rivers blurred past the two of them, faster than Cashew could ever remember before. The view he was lonely looking at moments before was suddenly changed into an image he felt he might not ever see again. Finally, the mansion emerged into sight, and before the two horses skidded to a stop, Cashew noticed Monsuta quickly look back and his body tense.

“It seems we are too late, he’s already waiting for us, or at least me. Your unique scent might be to our advantage yet! Ok here’s what we are going to do...”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Cashew had quietly climbed through the window to the kitchen whilst Monsuta walked right in through the main entrance. He had made sure to keep any noise in time with the blonde in order to make sure he wasn’t noticed. As Cashew proceeded on taking out the supplies from his satchel, he could hear the chilling conversation the two vampires were having in the next room.

“Ahh, hello little brother! Oh, how I’ve missed seeing your cute, little face!” Monsuta exclaimed in mock joy.

“Quit the jokes.” A curt, sinister voice, dripping with poison and hate replied. This short sentence alone had the power to stop Cashew in his tracks momentarily, frozen with fear. (Well, at least my scent is hidden this way) Cashew forced himself to think and return to carefully unwinding and preparing the rope he held in his hands.

“Why the coldness? Haven’t you missed me in all these years?” Monsuta cried out as he pretended to be hurt. He was certainly succeeding in stalling for time, but Cashew had no doubt that he could given his annoying personality. “Twenty whole years have passed and I only just found out that you were still alive!” The blonde continued.

Suddenly a loud crash could be heard which sent the whole building to shake with tremors. Astonished, Cashew quickly stole a glance from behind the door and had to hold in an exclamation as he found the magnificent chandelier which once hung above the living room now shattered upon the floor. He could see Monsuta standing only mere inches away from the impacted area, and for the first time, Cashew also saw his brother. Their anatomical features were very much identical, except Monsuta was slightly shorter and thinner. The brother also had slightly wavy, jet-black hair which was in length to his shoulders, and tied up tightly in a short ponytail behind. His eyes were as white as Monsuta’s, but they possessed a deep, alien hollowness, void of any feeling or life. His skin was also more inhuman than Monsuta - as white as a sheet of paper. He was now standing effortlessly on top of the chandeliers spike which had previously attached to the roof.

“Twenty years is just enough time for my hate to grow,” replied Monsuta’s brother, “ever since you proclaimed yourself a disgusting vegetarian, and even abandoned us all to die I have hated every fibre of your body.”

“Well the feeling is mutual then.” Monsuta spat back, “the mere thought of you bloodsucker’s all make my stomach turn!”

A slow, hollow laugh echoed from the raven-haired man.

“Do you think living peacefully along the livestock and pretending to be a good little human will change the fact that you are a demonic vampire? The endless centuries of blood and lives that you took are part of you, there’s no point in escaping it.”

Cashew then saw a pure rage, unlike anything he had seen before, come over Monsuta at his brother’s last words. “You think I don’t know that!?” He bellowed, “I’d like to let you know, that I have had not a single peaceful night in these past 20 years!”

“And that is because you are not accepting who you really are!”

The two were taking a dangerous step closer with every word they spoke. Finally, Monsuta lost it and lunged at the other, with inhuman speed and long, outstretched, sharp nails. But the other was faster. With a simple dodge, Monsuta’s brother swerved round so fast that Cashew couldn’t even see the moment his hand, shaped like a knife, penetrated through Monsuta’s side and emerged through his body with Monsuta’s blood dripping from its tip. Both the blonde and Cashew were shocked and couldn’t move a muscle for several excruciating moments. The brother simply loomed above with glassy, white eyes and watched each drop of blood carefully. Finally, Monsuta collapsed and coughed out an immense amount of blood onto the floor. This brought Cashew to his senses and the man closed his, took in a deep breath and calmly walked out into full view.

“Hey parasite! I killed most of your family, come get me!” Cashew shouted as loud as he could. Never before had he felt so much fear from looking at a face as it slowly turned to face him. Nevertheless, he pushed down his terror and magnificently managed to calm completely down. In order for this to work, Cashew knew he had to trust Monsuta, no matter what shape he was in, and let out the sweet scent of his blood. The effect of this could be immediately seen upon the brother’s face, as, like Monsuta, his eyes sharpened, his fangs grew, and his breathing increased.

“So you’ve not only disgraced the title of vampires with your antics, but you’ve disgraced our family name by living with the very human who murdered our parents? Our sister!?” The raven-haired man manically hollered. With one final flick of his wrist which sent Monsuta flying up against a wall, he dashed straight for Cashew.

“Now!” Monsuta managed to yell through the blood in his mouth. Cashew pulled as hard as he could on the rope in his hand, which tightened a rope of the floor and brought down multiple walls of sellotape and wires from the ceiling in from of him. Unable to slow down in time, the brother howled as his legs got caught up in the rope and he tumbled into the barriers of wires and glue. Without a moment’s hesitation, Cashew kicked a switch by his feet which sent an immense surge of power to travel through the wires and fry the man stuck within them. Such indescribable screams had never before reached Cashew’s ears, but he knew he was not done yet. During the few heartbeats after the electric shock, Cashew whipped out his old, rusty dagger and stabbed Monsuta’s brother through the head. The latter’s body gave out a last few, harsh spasms before it hung limply in the net of wires and tape.

Cashew stood, breathless in front of the corpse with complete disbelief of what just occurred. Then, the sound of gargled coughing made him spin around and give out a yelp at the sight of Monsuta dying in a pool of his own blood. Cashew stumbled despairingly towards his friend and fell onto his knees before him.

“Monsuta, speak to me! What should I do?” Helplessness surged up faster than the blood from Monsuta’s wounds as Cashew could only stare at his friend. “I thought vampires could re generate and live for ever?”

“Yes... that’s true... in most cases...” Monsuta spluttered out, “but I haven’t had blood... can’t... heal myself”

“What? Then surely I can help? Here, all I have to do is pour my-“

“It’s no use...” Monsuta painfully pushed himself into a sitting position with the last of his strength, “I will stay to... my virtues... refuse to drink blood.”

“No! I insist!! Monsuta, I allow you to drink my blood. I insist you break your promise to yourself for just this one time so that you can survive!”

“You’re so cruel... to let my effort simply... waste away.” Monsuta weakly chuckled, “ill only do it if you beg me again.”

Cashew’s soul filled with determination as he leaned foreword and pulled down his shirt’s collar to expose his neck.

“I, Cashew Revanche, beg you, my friend, to drink my blood this instant!” 

What happened next made cashew’s heart freeze. Monsuta’s head swooped down, letting his hair cover his face. Steady clapping emanated from behind Cashew, and he could hear a twisted laugh echo through the living room.

“How I’ve waited for this moment...” Cashew’s eyes widened as he saw a malicious smile stretch psychotically from Monsuta’s face. “I’ll give you some credit though, you were one of my most difficult and most entertaining victims yet, thank you so very much dear friend!”

Cashew jumped back and scrambled frantically on the floor, unable to get up with his shaking limbs, as he watched Monsuta slowly look up with calm, gleaming, red eyes. Cashew only managed to get back a few feet when he suddenly hit something behind him. Looking up, the last of Cashew’s strength ebbed away as he saw Monsuta’s brother stare down at him with the same red pair of eyes.

“He’s all yours now.” The brother coolly commented, and turned around and left the mansion with total indifference to the events that just happened.

“Ash, he’s gone already. He never really had much personality or love for games anyway.” Monsuta pushed himself up and off the floor and nonchalantly neatened his clothes. “Well Cashew, I guess this is goodbye!”

“Wa- wait!” Cashew stammered as the blonde made his approach, “what are you doing? Has the blood moon made you completely insane?”

“Well I guess since twelve spent so much time together you do deserve a little bit of context. The summary is that I was once the most feared vampire this land has ever seen. I was to be the successor of my father not only as the eldest son, but also through the reputation of being the most bloodthirsty vampire in all of history. Then came a time, about a century or two ago, when an twisted witch fell in love with me. She angered me in a way that her blood smelt incredibly delicious when she wasn’t afraid, but she could also use her magic to stop me from killing her. Yes she was like you. Actually, over the years I have encountered quite a few people with the same blood as you, and I’ve noticed that each one has a different special ability and set of magic. Yours is that you can become invisible and extremely quick to those who don’t know you, whilst that witch had the ability to create curses. Anyway, since I couldn’t kill her, I instead killed every single loved one she had. Of course, she became angry and placed a curse on my that I could never drink blood from another person. However, the stupid love she held made her bring an exception to this so that I could not die. She said that only if the victim begs me to suck their blood will I be able to feast upon it. As time passes, I try to befriend the people with special blood, like you, initially for revenge, but now it has become a sort of entertainment for me. It was only chance that you were the murderer of my family too, a sort of bonus. By far you are the longest one I’ve had to study an put effort in, so as to not die the same way my family did. I also had to get some help from my brother since i was actually growing impatient with your sweet scent. All in all, thank you for being such a good sport, and I promise you that I will savour every drop you have to offer me!”

The last thing Cashew saw was two, sharp fangs, blonde, curly hair, and a par of red, glowing eyes.


End file.
